6 new faces in Basavaraj Bommai's 29-member cabinet

Bengaluru: Ending the week-long suspense over the composition of his new ministerial team, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai retained 23 ministers from the previous BS Yediyurappa's Cabinet and inducted six fresh faces into his council of ministers on Wednesday.

Governor Thawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office to the new ministers. "We need both experience and enthusiasm," Bommai commented before announcing the names of his ministers.

Yediyurappa's son Vijayendra did not find place in the new Cabinet as was the speculation. There were rumours that Yediyurappa demanded deputy CM's post for his son as a bargaining chip to step down and make way for new leadership.

The new Cabinet has seven Vokkaligas, eight Lingayats, seven OBCs, three SCs, two Brahmins, one ST and one Reddy, and a woman. Keeping his promise, Bommai inducted 10 legislators who had joined the BJP after quitting Congress-JD(S) coalition in 2019, and helped the saffron party come to power. They include BC Patil, ST Somashekhar, Dr K Sudhakar, Anand Singh, Byrathi Basavaraj, Gopalaiah, Shivaram Hebbar, KC Narayana Gowda, Muniratna and MTB Nagaraj.

Eleven of them were ministers in the Yediyurappa government, while two others, Shrimant Patil and R Shankar did not make it to the Bommai Cabinet. Former deputy CM Laxman Savadi is one of the prominent leaders to miss the Cabinet bus.

The others who were dropped from the cabinet were Jagadish Shettar, Arvind Limbavali, Suresh Kumar, CP Yogeshwar and Srimanth Patil.

Earlier on Wednesday, Bommai said there would be no deputy CMs in his Cabinet as per the high command's directions. Among those in the Yediyurappa cabinet who made it to Bommai's Ministry are: Govind Karjol (Mudhol), K S Eshwarappa (Shivamogga), R Ashoka (Padmanabhanagar), C N Ashwath Narayan (Malleshwaram), B Sriramulu (Molkalmuru), Umesh Katti (Hukkeri), S T Somashekar (Yeshwanthpur), K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura);

Byrathi Basavaraj (K R Puram), B C Patil (Hirekeruru), Murugesh Nirani (Beelagi), Shivaram Hebbar (Yeallapur), Shashikala Jolle (Nippani), K C Narayan Gowda (K R Pet), K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout); J C Madhuswamy (Chikkanayakanahalli), Prabhu Chauhan (Aurad), V Somanna (Govindraj Nagar), S Angara (Sullia), Anand Singh (Vijayanagara), C C Patil (Nargund), M T B Nagaraj (MLC), and Kota Srinivas Poojary (MLC). Among the fresh faces are- V Sunil Kumar (Karkala), Araga Jnanendra (Thirthahalli), Munirathna (R R Nagar), Halappa Achar (Yelburga), Shankar Patil Munenkopp (Navalgunda) and B C Nagesh (Tiptur). Interestingly, legislators who had allegedly indulged in activities or issued statements against Yediyurappa's leadership like Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, C P Yogeshwar and Arvind Bellad besides M P Renukacharya,a staunch loyalist of the former CM who had claimed to have conducted a signature campaign in Yediyurappa's favour, have not been inducted.

Party sources said this is a clear message to those indulging in such activities from the high command.