Under pressure from new ministers, Yediyurappa reshuffles portfolios

Bengaluru: A day after allocating portfolios to ten newly inducted ministers of his cabinet, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday reshuffled them apparently under pressure from some newly inducted ministers.

According to an official notification issued by Governor Vajubhai Vala, Anand Singh, who was allotted the porfolio of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers Affairs on Monday, has now been given the charge of Forest, Ecology and Environment Department.

B C Patil, who was given the charge of Forest Department, has now been allocated Agriculture department, which was additionally held by Home minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Yediyurappa has taken back the Small Scale Industries portfolio from K Gopalaiah and has now allocated him Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers Affairs Department.

The additional charge of sugar department that Gopalaiah had has been given to Labour minister A Shivaram Hebbar.

According to BJP sources, Singh, Patil and Gopalaiah were unhappy with their portfolios and had exerted pressure on the Chief Minister to change the departments assigned to them.

Though there was demand for plum portfolios like Energy and Bangalore Development that are with the Chief Minister currently, Yediyurappa has not allotted them as it may give rise to rift within, as several senior party leaders and ministers have been eyeing the departments.

The other minor changes that have been done in Tuesday's reallocation include Minority Welfare department that was with Animal Husbandry, Haj and Wakf Department minister Prabhu Chauhan, which has been given to Textile minister Shrimant Patil.

Similarly Ecology and Environment has been divested from Mines and Geology minister C C Patil and allotted to Anand Singh along with Forest.

Urban Development minister B A Basvaraj will have the responsibility of Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) and Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), excluding Bangalore Development and related department and Directorate of Town Planning.

Yediyurappa on February 6 had expanded his cabinet by inducting 10 of 11 legislators who had won the bypolls in December on the BJP ticket after defecting from the Congress and JD(S) and subsequently facing disqualification.