Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will induct 11 new ministers into his ministry, a BJP spokesperson said on Friday.
"Amongst 11 ministers, maybe nine will be accommodated (from by-election winners) and another three from the regular BJP cadres," BJP spokesperson G Madhusudhana told IANS.
However, he said he was not privy to any names that would feature in the final list.
Commenting on the amount of time being taken to expand the cabinet, Madhusudhana said 11 non-BJP candidates winning the bye-election and all of them being promised a ministerial berth has created imbalances.
"...the entry of 11 non-BJP legislators getting elected on BJP tickets with an assurance of cabinet berth for everybody has really caused a lot of commotion, a sort of tension and a regionally imbalanced and a caste imbalance also," he said.
Source close to the Chief Minister said that one or two of the turncoat MLAs are uikely to get cabinet berths and that the high command has accepted Yediyurappa's decision against major opposition for the same.
"The faction of the BJP leaders opposing Yediyurappa's decision to make all 11 MLAs who had resigned to make way for the BJP government, had tried to ensure that not all of them would get ministries. We are expecting only one or two to be dropped. There was major opposition for it and many leaders wanted only 6 or 7 of them to get ministries," the BJP source said.
There are currently 16 vacancies in the Karnataka cabinet. The current cabinet expansion is likely to see 13 berths fill up. With BJP old timers Umesh Katti, Aravind Limbavalli and S Angara in line for cabinet berths, party insiders say that one of the 11 turncoats may have to let go of ministerial aspirations in order to accommodate the three indigenous BJP leaders.
"One of the MLAs from Belagavi or Bengaluru will have to let go of the ministerial aspirations for now. Yediyurappa is promising those who defected that they still have a chance to become a minister as there are three more vacancies," the source said.
To rule the state, the spokesperson said regional and caste balances are a must.
"Regional balances... ministers coming from different parts of the state. And ministers representing different groups of people. These two things are not there with the assurance we have given to a group of people who are the benefactors of our government in Karnataka," said Madhusudhana.
As a result, the question of how to accommodate, how to make a balance has been the problem for the Chief Minister, the high command and everybody as a matter of fact, he said.
Amid this chaos, Madhusudhana said some balance has to be struck, some have to be convinced and some simply sympathised with. Some hopefuls will be promised next time as politics is a game of hope, he added.
The much-delayed cabinet expansion has already been postponed several times.
The BJP won 12 of the 15 Assembly seats in the bye-elections while the opposition Congress could win only two while an Independent won one.