Narendra Modi dashes berth hopes of state MPs

Bengaluru: The Karnataka BJP’s hopes of getting one more berth in the Union ministry, perhaps of cabinet rank, have been dashed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi flatly rejected the idea. The BJP had won 17 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in the 2014 polls but has only three Cabinet ministers and a minister of state in the Modi ministry of whom Venkaiah Naidu was elected from the state to the Rajya Sabha.  This means that only 3 of the 17 Lok Sabha MPS have got berths.

Sources told Deccan Chronicle that a delegation of state BJP MPs met Mr Modi in New Delhi sometime back with a request to allot one more cabinet  berth to Karnataka considering the growth of the party. The leaders maintained that if one more ministerial berth was given, people would think that the BJP cares for the state.

They claimed that it would help the party fight the ruling Congress  more effectively. Mr Modi, after giving them a patient hearing, politely dismissed the suggestion. He reportedly said, “You MPs can work more rigorously and earn a name for the party. You should stop thinking about these issues. Leave it to me. You focus on work. I think we have to focus on districts and areas where we are weak,” he reportedly said.

The delegation returned empty handed but the news regarding the meeting was kept under wraps.  Though it was not clear who was behind this move, sources in the party said the idea was to secure a cabinet berth for a Lingayat leader, suitably one from Bombay-Karnataka region. Though the region is a party’s pocket borough for quite some time, it has been facing major problems after the Kalasa Banduri canal issue affected the BJP’s image in north and central Karnataka.

The agitators from Gadag district have successfully painted BJP as anti-north Karnataka citing the Prime Minister’s  inability to resolve the Mahadayi river row amicably. The state leaders cited this and made a vain bid to get a cabinet berth for Bombay-Karnataka, sources added.