Basavaraj Bommai summoned to Delhi; Cabinet expansion aspirants hopeful

Bengaluru: The BJP high command has summoned Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to Delhi. Accordingly, Bommai will leave for the national capital on Thursday afternoon and return on Friday.

Those eyeing an entry into the state Cabinet are now hopeful that this time Bommai will get a green signal for a Cabinet expansion. There are five vacant posts in the Cabinet and the upcoming Assembly elections are less than a year away. The BJP reportedly wants to bring new faces into the Cabinet and drop the non-performing ministers.

Sources in the BJP said that Bommai has been summoned to Delhi to discuss the Presidential election along with other CMs from the BJP-ruled states. However, party sources also said that the top BJP leadership might take a final discussion on Cabinet expansion.

BJP leaders in Karnataka are upbeat after the two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party is preparing for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections after the 40-month challenge taken up by Modi to finish all infrastructure projects, including the ambitious and long-pending suburban rail project.