The ministers’ exit will see a scramble to fill up to 10 vacant ministerial berths.
The sudden exit of three ministers could spell more trouble for the fledgling DV Sadananda Gowda government at a time when the BJP leadership is struggling to cope with former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa’s strident moves to regain the chief minister’s post.
The resignation of Krishna Palemar, Lakshman Savadi and CC Patil has raised the number of vacant berths in Gowda’s ministry to 10, reigniting the aspirations of many BJP legislators. The fact that Savadi and CC Patil were staunch followers of Yeddyurappa is expected to further complicate the issue as the former chief minister is almost certain to throw his weight around to retain his grip on the ministry.
According to BJP sources, the chief minister is expected to get the party high command’s clearance to expand his ministry next month after the assembly polls in five states.
The list of ministerial aspirants is long, with Appachu Ranjan, Appu Pattanashetty, CT Ravi, Jeevaraj, Sogadu Shivanna, Suresh Gowda, Beluru Gopalakrishna and MP Kumaraswamy being the most vocal.
The exit of Savadi has suddenly kindled high optimism for Abhay Patil and Sanjay Patil from Belgaum district. Bellary continues to have no representation in the ministry.
Anand Singh has improved his prospects of getting the berth under the Bellary quota, while Somalingappa is also a contender.
As for the coastal belt, there are only three persons who will fit the bill to grab the slot vacated by Palemar: N. Yogish Bhat (Mangalore South MLA), Mallika Prasad (Puttur MLA) and Haladi Srinivas Shetty (Kundapur MLA).
The party may not take a call on Bhat as he has already been made the deputy speaker of the Assembly; Prasad is a first-time MLA and inexperienced at that, but Shetty stands a chance if the party elders can consider.
But Shetty may face stiff competition from K Lakshminarayana, the MLA from Byndoor.
He has been chairman of the Karnataka State Fisheries Development Corporation and is close to the Shimoga MP BY Raghavendra (son of BS Yeddyurappa).
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