Bommai not expanding Cabinet to avoid giving berth to Yediyurappa's son: Siddaramaiah

Kalaburagi (K'taka): Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday claimed that the "secret" behind Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai not expanding the Cabinet is to avoid making BJP strongman B S Yediyurappa's son as a minister.

Speaking to reporters, he also alleged that "getting more bribes" was the other reason why Bommai is not undertaking the exercise and keeping many portfolios with himself.

"BJP did injustice to Yediyurappa; they along with RSS made him step down from the Chief Minister post and brought in Basavaraj Bommai. There is rift between Yediyurappa and Bommai now, because Bommai did not expand the Cabinet, to avoid inducting Yediyurappa's son into the Ministry," Siddaramaiah claimed.

"As he will have to make Yediyurappa's son a minister if the cabinet is expanded, the Chief Minister did not expand the Ministry and is keeping six posts vacant, it has been more than one-and-half years now," he added.

Pointing out that the Chief Minister is keeping many departments with himself, the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly alleged that it is because he will get more bribes.

These are the two reasons why Bommai is not expanding the Cabinet, he claimed.

Almost one-fourth of the portfolios are with the Chief Minister, as Bommai is in charge of about eight of them, including Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR), Bengaluru City Development and Finance.

Bommai has been repeatedly saying in recent months that he has had discussions with the party high command regarding expanding the Cabinet and will go ahead with the process once he gets clearance from them.

Assembly elections are due in the state by May.