Five ministers to take oath today, Reddy brothers miss out

Bangalore - 11 August 2011: The D V Sadananda Gowda ministry in Karnataka will be expanded today with the induction of five more ministers, keeping out the mining magnates Reddy brothers and their close associate B Sreeramulu.

According to sources in the Chief Minister's Secretariat, Raju Gowda, C P Yogeshwar, Anand Asnotikar, Balachandra Jarkiholi and independent MLA Varthur Prakash are likely to be sworn-in at a simple ceremony to be held at the Glass Palace in Raj Bhavan.

Karunakara Reddy and Janardhana Reddy, who were indicted in the Lokayukta report on the illegal mining issue and their close associate Sreeramulu are not likely to be inducted, sources said.

However, Asnotikar, Prakash and Yogeshwar are said to be the hand-picked representatives of the Reddy group.

The three were ministers in BJP's first government in the South, headed by B S Yeddyurappa.

This is the second ministry expansion Gowda is carrying out after he inducted 21 ministers on August 8 in a hurried exercise.

Even after today's expansion, the ministry will have seven vacancies.Speaking to reporters in Bangalore upon his arrival from Delhi, KS Eshwarappa, the State BJP president said that the five names have been seconded by the party's high command.

"At a meeting held in New Delhi, the names have been finalized. The meeting was attended among others by Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Dharmendra Pradhan and Satihsh," he said, even as chief minister Gowda stood by his side.

When asked to name the new ministers, Mr Eshwarappa said the list cannot be disclosed at this stage.

Gowda took oath as Chief Minister on August 4 following axing of B S Yeddyurappa by the party high command after a Lokayukta report on illegal mining indicted him.

Even as there are many ministerial berth aspirants within BJP, the party high command has chosen to accommodate Varthur Prakash, who has been supporting the government in tune with the promise held out to him earlier.

Sringeri MLA D N Jeevaraj, who recently quit as Government Chief Whip with hopes of joining the ministry, has not been chosen.

Governor H R Bhardwaj has been requested to administer oath of office and secrecy to new ministers in Raj Bhavan at 6 PM, the sources said.