Bengaluru: Karnataka is a living example of the adage that the more things change, the more they remain the same, and so, weeks after BS Yediyurappa resigned as chief minister amidst widespread dissent among the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s legislators, the new chief minister Basavaraj Bommai finds himself hemmed in by dissenting legislators wanting more.
Hours after Tourism Minister Anand Singh closed his office in Hospet in Vijayanagar , presumably indicating his intentions to resign from the cabinet, the chief minister said disgruntlement among some ministers over the portfolio allocation will be resolved smoothly. Singh previously the forests minister, has expressed his displeasure after he was made minister for tourism in the new cabinet. A former Congress lawmaker, he resigned, defected to the BJP in 2019, and sees himself as one of the architects of its climb to power in the state.
“I was the first one to resign from the assembly. After eight days of my resignation, others began resigning. Because of our resignations, the BJP came to power in the State. Party leaders should have allocated a major portfolio to me,” Singh said. The defection of the lawmakers brought down the Congress-Janata Dal (S) government that came to power after the 2018 assembly elections.
Last week, Singh visited a temple to offer special prayers, similar to the ones he offered before his resignation from the Congress two years ago. All of this seems to have had the desired effect on the new CM. Later he told reporters that everything would be set right soon. “Anand Singh and I are friends for three decades. We are continuously in touch. Yesterday I spoke to him. Today also I will speak to him. I am aware of his views, and I too have conveyed my views. Everything will be set right after he comes and speaks to me.” Bommai denied that Singh has resigned .
But Singh isn’t the only one. Commenting on another disgruntled minister MTB Nagaraj, Bommai said he has spoken to him and there is no problem at all. After Bommai succeeded Yediyurappa as the Chief Minister, on August 4, he expanded his cabinet which now has 29 ministers. He retained most of the ministers in the Yediyurappa government, but dropped a few. People familiar with the matter said that apart from the two ministers who have expressed their displeasure, there are others who are unhappy with the cabinet allocations. Then there are the lawmakers unhappy at not finding a place in the cabinet.
