The chief minister, who had on Wednesday expanded his new cabinet by inducting 29 ministers, had played it safe by and large retaining old faces, as 23 of them were Ministers in the previous Yediyurappa cabinet, while six were new.
While Nagaraj made no clear announcement of taking back resignation, the same was affirmed by Shivakumar while speaking to media outside Nagaraj's residence.
The Congress-Janata Dal-Secular coalition faces the threat of losing its majority in the assembly if the resignations are accepted as its current tally is 116 in the 224 member House.
A week after expanding his cabinet, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday allocated portfolios to the seven new inductees and also effected a reshuffle of the departments of some ministers.
The second round of reallocation today was carried out to pacify Madhuswamy, who was said to have been contemplating resigning as minister, after Republic Day celebrations on Tuesday, official sources said.
They have sought quashing of the July 25 order of disqualification by K R Ramesh Kumar, who resigned on Monday as speaker of the House.
Yediyurappa, however, evaded queries on whether he would be able to complete his tenure, as there has been speculation about a possible leadership change in the state following murmurs of discontent in the party.
The ruling party legislators have expressed serious reservations about MLCs not elected by the people being made ministers, lack of representation to certain regions, with most ministers still from Bengaluru and Belagavi districts and also on their 'seniority or sacrifice' not being considered.
The BJP will need to win at least six seats to remain in power.
Tourism Minister Anand Singh and Municipal Administration and Small Scale Industries' Minister N Nagaraj (MTB) have openly expressed displeasure over their portfolio, and have sought "weighty" ones.
The coalition government is on a shaky wicket with 16 MLAs -- 13 of the Congress and three of the Janata Dal-Secular -- resigning their assembly membership. Besides, two independent legislators, who were made ministers recently to provide stability, have quit the ministry and withdrawn support.
With sulking Tourism Minister Anand Singh shutting down his MLA's office in Hospet in Vijayanagar district reportedly to show his displeasure over the portfolio allocation, Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai on Wednesday said he would speak to him.
Nagaraj reached Mumbai accompanied by Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa's personal assistant Santosh and BJP MLA R Ashok.
The court struck down the portion of the Speaker's order by which the legislators were disqualified till the end of the 15th Karnataka assembly.
The 14 MLAs who had resigned earlier this month include Pratapgouda Patil, BC Patil, Shivaram Hebbar, ST Somashekhar, BA Basavaraja, Anand Singh, R Roshan Baig, Munirathna, K Sudhakar, MTB Nagaraj, AH Vishwanath, K Gopalaiah, Narayana Gowda and Shrimanth Patil.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances