Bengaluru: Seventeen ministers on Tuesday took oath as Karnataka cabinet ministers in Bengaluru three weeks after Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa was sworn in following the collapse of the previous Congress-JD(S) government in the state.
The cabinet ministers took oath in the presence of Governor Vajubhai Vala and Chief Minister Yediyurappa here.
Among the MLAs, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who was in the saddle between 2012 and 2013, is to be inducted as a Cabinet minister. Former deputy chief ministers K S Eshwarappa, R Ashoka made the cut as well.
Other MLAs including Laxman Sangappa Savadi, C N Ashwath Narayan, Govind M Karjol, B Sreeramulu, S Suresh Kumar, V Somanna, Kota Shrinivas Poojari, J C Madhu Swamy, Chandrakantagouda Channappagouda Patil, H Ganesh, Prabhu Chauhan and Jolle Shashikala Annasaheb were made the ministers on Tuesday.
Karnataka can have a maximum of 34 Ministers, including the chief minister.
The Chief Minister, who drew Opposition's criticism for the delay in cabinet expansion, proposed names of 17 MLAs including K S Eshwarappa, Jagdish Shettar, C T Ravi and Basavaraj Bommai to Governor Vajubhai Vala on Monday.
On Monday, Yediyurappa said: "Within 2-3 hours, I am going to get the final list from Amit Bhai (BJP President Amit Shah). So, cabinet expansion will be done tomorrow."
The 76-year-old BJP veteran had run a "one-man cabinet" for over 20 days, during which the state has battled a massive flood crisis. Over 80 people have died in floods following days of heavy rainfall across the state. Criticising the ruling BJP for its one-man government, the Congress alleged that the administration resembled President's rule.
Yediyurappa took oath as chief minister on July 26 and proved his government's majority on the floor of the Assembly on July 29.
However, with no decision yet by the Supreme Court on 17 disqualified Congress-JD(S) MLAs, whose resignation from the Assembly paved the way for the BJP to gain power, the chief minister has no immediate compulsion to accommodate them.
Amid pressure from within, opposition parties, the Congress and JD(S) too had hit out at the BJP over the delay in cabinet expansion, and had even raised questions about the government's "existence".
The Congress had even said that Yediyurappa's one-man cabinet administration "resembled President's rule."
