New Delhi/Bangalore, Aug 10 (IANS) The new Karnataka ministry will not have a deputy chief minister nor will the mining barons, the two Reddy brothers, find a berth, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda said Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership was not in favour of creating a deputy chief minister's post in Karnataka as it was not there in any BJP-rule state, Gowda told reporters in New Delhi.
He also ruled out making the Reddy brothers - G. Janardhana Reddy and G. Karunakara Reddy - ministers again as they have been indicted in the illegal mining scam by the Lokayukta (ombudsman).
"I am not the only one to take decisions on all these things. All the directions given by the central leadership will be carried out," he said on his visit to New Delhi after becoming chief minister Aug 4 succeeding scam-hit B.S. Yeddyurappa.
Besides the two Reddy brothers, the Lokayukta has also named their close associate B. Sriramulu. Janardhana was tourism minister in the Yeddyurappa cabinet while Karunakara handled revenue portfolio and Sriramulu held the health ministry.
Gowda, who defeated former rural development minister Jagadish Shettar to become BJP's second chief minister in Karnataka, said all differences with him (Shettar) would be sorted out.
He said he had handled differences within the party when he headed the Karnataka unit for four years. Like he had sorted out the differences then, now also "all issues will be resolved", Gowda asserted.
Janardhana Reddy has also been in New Delhi lobbying with party central leaders to make his youngest brother G. Somashekara minister as well as some of his supporters.
Somashekara has not been named in the Lokayukta report.
Gowda can induct 12 more into his ministry. Including him the ministry now has 22 members.
Lobbying is on both in Delhi and in Bangalore from aspirants for a ministerial berth.
The ruling party is divided into several groups with Gowda identified with Yeddyurappa.
The other group is led by Shettar. He had the backing of party state chief K.S. Eshwarappa and Bangalore South Lok Sabha member H.N. Ananth Kumar when he contested against Gowda in the Aug 3 elections to become the leader of the party's legislature wing.
The third group consists of 11 BJP legislators who had been expelled last year for rebelling against Yeddyurappa but got back their membership from the Supreme Court.
The Reddys backed Shettar in the chief minister's race but are now fighting the battle on their own as neither their younger brother nor their supporters was made a minister in the first round.
Gowda said Monday when 21 ministers were inducted that the remaining berths would be filled within a week.