Bangalore: In an unusual exercise carried out while the legislature session is on, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday expanded his four-month old coalition ministry by inducting eight new members, including his brother H D Revanna.
The expansion takes the strength of the ministry to 30, including 15 members from BJP and 13 from JDS, Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and the Chief Minister S) state president M P Prakash were inducted.
However, even with the expansion, the ministry doesn’t have a single woman member even though four berths against the optimal strength of 34 are still vacant.
The new ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor T N Chaturvedi at the Banquet Hall in the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, in sharp contrast to the swearing in ceremonies held either in Raj Bhavan or on the portals of Vidhan Soudha.
The newly inducted ministers are; M P Prakash, H D Revanna, H K Kumaraswamy and Zameer Ahmed Khan from JDS and S A Ravindranath, Shivananda Naik, Revu Naik Belamagi and Shashikant Akkappa Naik from BJP.
The expansion comes within two days after the crisis between JD (S) and BJP over the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project seemed to have blown over.
The JD (S) had given a quiet burial to its move to take over the project on the Bangalore-Mysore expressway following opposition by the BJP.
The Chief Minister's move, though anticipated but announced suddenly on Tuesday, is seen as an attempt to send a clear message that the coalition is very much intact despite irritants between them.
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