​​​​​​​Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa to allocate cabinet portfolios on February 10

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday announced that he will allocate cabinet portfolios to the designated ministers on February 10. Speaking to the media at the 'Janata Darshan' event in Shikaripura, the Karnataka CM said, "I had to do it on Saturday, but it was delayed because of weekend holidays." 

He further promised a ministerial berth to MLA Umesh Katti. Yediyurappa said that Katti should have been included in the first list but now he will be accommodated in the coming days.

Yediyurappa on Siddaramaiah's comments

Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday called Yediyurappa an 'incompetent' chief minister and said the Karnataka Cabinet, which has recently been expanded by him, is 'imbalanced'.

"Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has no freedom to form a Cabinet. The Cabinet is imbalanced and has neglected 13 districts. There will be discontent among them. Yediyurappa is an incompetent Chief Minister," said Siddaramaiah.

Reacting to it, Yediyurappa said, "Instead of reacting to any statement, I choose to focus on my work and development. Right now, I am busy in preparations for the state budget which is to be presented on March 5."

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Karnataka leaders take oath as cabinet ministers

On Wednesday, 10 MLAs including Ramesh Jarkiholi, Anand Singh, K Sudhakar, and BA Basavaraja took oath as cabinet ministers at Raj Bhawan in Bengaluru in the presence of Governor of Karnataka Vajubhai Vala and the Chief Minister Yediyurappa. The other MLAs who were also given cabinet positions are ST Somashekar, Arabail Hebbar Shivaram, Hasavanagowda C Patil, K Gopalaiah, Narayana Gowda and Shrimant Balasaheb Patil. 

The development comes after the Karnataka bypolls that were conducted in December 2019. Several MLAs had won the by-polls on a BJP ticket after switching loyalties from the Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS) and Congress. Out of the 15 state assembly constituencies, where the bypolls were held, BJP had won 12 seats, Congress had won 2 and JDS drew blank.  

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(With ANI Inputs)