The Karnataka ministry was expanded yesterday with the induction of 17 legislators, including one independent, as cabinet ministers at a simple ceremony.
“State Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 17 lawmakers at the Raj Bhavan,” an official said.
The legislators, who took oath in Kannada are Govind Karjol, C N Ashwath Narayan, Laxman Savadi, K S Eshwarappa, R Ashoka, Jagadish Shettar, B Sreeramulu, S Suresh Kumar, V Somanna, C T Ravi, Basavaraj Bommai, Kota Srinivas Poojari, J C Madhu Swamy, Chandrakantagouda Patil, H Nagesh, Prabhu Chauhan and Jollie Shashikala Annasaheb.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s veteran Lingayat community leader B S Yediyurappa, 76, became the chief minister for the fourth time on July 26 after the party returned to power following the collapse of the 14-month-old JD-S-Congress coalition government on July 23, when its chief minister H D Kumaraswamy lost a confidence motion.
Jollie is the lone woman in the 18-member ministry, including the chief minister.
Of the 17 ministers, 16 belong to the BJP and one is an independent.
Of the 16 BJP lawmakers, Poojari is the party’s leader in the state Legislative Council.
Of the ruling party’s members, four – Narayan, Swamy, Chauhan and Jollie have become ministers for the first time.
Shettar was the BJP’s third chief minister from September 2012 to May 2013, when the party was in power for the first time between 2008 and 2013.


Related Story