Daijiworld News Network - Bangalore (GA)

Bangalore, Jun 6: The much awaited day of cabinet expansion seems to have finally arrived.  The sources from the corridors of Vidhana Soudha said that chief minister H D Kumaraswamy has decided to expand ministry on Wednesday June 7 morning.

It is said that 6 each MLAs from JD (S) and BJP will be sworn in on Wednesday morning.  After the expansion, the chief minister will fly to UAE for a three day visit.  A meeting of the top leader of both the parties was held on Monday June 5 night in which it was decided to expand the cabinet.

Though cabinet expansion was in pipeline for long, it was postponed several times owing to several reasons.  It was only a few days ago that cabinet expansion was postponed owing to controversy surrounding the possible inclusion of BJP MLC Shobha Karandlaje.

Now it is said that even the JD (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda has consented for the cabinet expansion. Accordingly it is expected that senior JD (S) MLAs J T Deve Gowda, Amaregowda Bayyapura, M P Prakash and H D Revanna will be included in the ministry.  On the other hand there is a tough tussle going on in BJP for the ministerial berths. Prakash Khandre, Shivanand Nayak, Shakuntala Shetty and Vimala Gowda are some prominent leaders who are expected to get a chance in the new ministry.  However, sources said that among Shakuntala Shetty and Vimala Gowda, only one could be chosen.

In the meantime several other MLAs are vying for a place in the cabinet.  Some of them are seen trying to convince their party leaders while some others are banking on caste and regional lobby.