Four new faces from Karnataka inducted into PM Modi's cabinet
With PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday inducting four new faces from Karnataka into his Ministry, and Chemicals & Fertilizers Minister DV Sadanda Gowda resigning ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle, the state's representation in the Union Council of Ministers now stands at six. CM BS Yediyurappa congratulated the new ministers and called on them to work together to further the state's progress across all sectors.
Yediyurappa took to Twitter to congratulate the new ministers
Who are the four members added to the cabinet?
Udupi-Chikmagalur MP Shobha Karandlaje, A Narayanaswamy (Chitradurga), Bhagwanth Khuba (Bidar), and Rajya Sabha member from the state Rajeev Chandrasekhar, were inducted as Ministers of State in the Modi government Wednesday. The other two of the six Karnataka members are Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a member of Rajya Sabha from the state, and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal, and Mines and Dharwad MP, Pralhad Joshi.
Karandlaje represents Vokkaliga community; Khuba's the face of Lingayats
Karandlaje, who was inducted yesterday, belongs to the politically influential Vokkaliga community in Southern Karnataka, to which Gowda also belongs. Khuba's induction is being seen as a move to fill Lingayat's representation in the cabinet that had fallen vacant following the death of Suresh Angadi, who was serving as Minister of State for Railways due to COVID-19 in September last year.
BJP won 25 out of 28 Karnataka Lok Sabha seats
Meanwhile, Narayanaswamy's induction seems to be a part of the party's strategy to further consolidate its "Dalit Left vote base," while Chandrasekhar is a tech entrepreneur. To note, the BJP had won 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. Several of Yediyurappa's cabinet colleagues and BJP leaders from the state have congratulated the newly-inducted Ministers.
