by reciprocal arrangement with Star of Mysore

Bangalore, Jan 24: The much-awaited expansion of Kumaraswamy Cabinet will take place tomorrow. In all, five Ministers will be sworn-in at 9 am at the glass house of Raj Bhavan.

It is almost certain that G.T. Devegowda (Mysore), H.S. Mahadevaprasad (Chamarajanagar) and Alangur Srinivas will be inducted from JD(S). Sogadu Shivanna from Tumkur will be BJP nominee. However, there is stiff competition among the aspirants of BJP for the second seat though the name of Rejendra Verma from Bidar district is prominently heard.

Prakash Khandre, Veeresh Gurani, Appu Pattanashetty and Shivaputrappa Desai from Hyderabad-Karnataka region are among the strong contenders.

It is said the BJP is actively considering to offer both the seats in its quota to Lingayat community to woo Lingayat voters in the next elections. Sogadu Shivanna is a Lingayat and Verma belongs to SC. The remaining four BJP contenders are also Lingayats.

Top leaders of BJP and RSS discussed the issue at the residence of Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa yesterday.

Apart from Yediyurappa, State BJP President D.V. Sadanandagowda, Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar, RSS leaders Jayadeva, K.N. Narahari and Dinesh Hegde attended the meeting.

Sadanandagowda left for Delhi yesterday for consultation with BJP National President Rajnath Singh. He returned to Bangalore this morning along with Rajnath Singh's nod.

Soon after his return, Sadanandagowda held a meeting with Yediyurappa and senior BJP Ministers including K.S. Eswarappa, Jagadish Shettar, Ramachandregowda, Ashok, D.H. Shankaramurthy, Katta Subramanya Naidu and Dr. V.S. Acharya. Details are not known.

Boards and Corproations

The BJP has decided to take up nominations to various Boards and Corporations only after completing the task of Cabinet expansion.