Date:20/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/20/stories/2006022007150400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Ministry expansion triggers resentment in BJP

Staff Reporter

Unhappiness over raw deal given to some deserving persons

Yediyurappa admits there is unhappiness in the party

Inclusion of first-time MLAs B. Sriramulu and B. Nagaraja Shetty questioned

Bangalore: Resentment has surfaced among MLAs and workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party, particularly from north Karnataka region, due to the "over representation" to Bangalore Urban and Shimoga districts in the Ministry expansion.

There is also disappointment in the Janata Dal (S) over the non-induction of some leaders in the Ministry.

A group of Lingayat BJP MLAs and G.M. Siddeshwara, MP and a confidant of Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, are sore over the "injustice" meted out to them.

Assurance

However, Mr. Siddeshwara said they had been able to get an assurance that Ravindranath, MLA for Davangere, would be accommodated in the next expansion.

Speaking to presspersons on Saturday, Mr. Yediyurappa admitted that there was some unhappiness in the party over some deserving persons not making it to the Ministry. But there was no cause for worry.

A large number of people, including leaders, staged a dharna near the residence of Mr. Yediyurappa demanding justice.

The MLAs, belonging to the Panchamashali sub-caste among Lingayats, are also upset.

They wanted to know why only four of the 42 party MLAs in north Karnataka were given berths while eight from the southern part had been inducted in the Ministry.

In Hyderabad-Karnataka region, none of the seven MLAs had been accommodated in the Ministry.

Questioning the need to give ministership to as many as three MLCs and two first-time MLAs such as B. Sriramulu and B. Nagaraja Shetty as well as accommodating three persons each from Bangalore Urban and Shimoga districts, some MLAs and their supporters felt that one person from the Scheduled Caste (right hand), a woman and leaders from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region and Belgaum district should have got berths.

"Mukhyamantri" Chandru, who is said to be eying the post of Chairman of the Kannada Development Authority, is maintaining a low profile, but the other MLCs such as Shashil G. Namoshi and Vimala Gowda are nursing a grouse.

Some have questioned the need to accommodate Ramachandre Gowda and D.H. Shankara Murthy in the Ministry, as their term in the Legislative Council will end in a few months.

G. Basavannappa and Araga Jnanendra from Shimoga district, Vishvesvara Hegde Kageri from Uttara Kannada district and Shankaralinge Gowda from Mysore district are sore over being ignored.