Yeddyurappa ministry expanded in Karnataka

BANGALORE - Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday expanded his ministry by inducting six more ministers, raising the strength to 34.

A Narayanaswamy, C H Vijayashankar, C C Patil, Shobha Karandlaje, V Somanna and S A Ramdas took oath as ministers of cabinet rank at a brief function held here at Raj Bhavan.

Governor H R Bhardwaj administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers.

Besides Yeddyurappa, some of his cabinet colleagues and BJP National General Secretary H N Anantkumar were present on the occasion.

With this, the ministry of Yeddyurappa has regained full strength.

On Tuesday, Yeddyurappa sacked three ministers, including Gulihatti D Shekar, who had threatened to commit suicide if axed.

The ministers who have been dropped are Shivana Gouda Naik (Adult Education) and Aravinda Limbaval (Higher Education) besides Shekar (Sports).

The sacking of the ministers came amidst threats of suicide by Shekar and of resignation to their membership by some MLAs, who are lobbying for ministerial berths. (ANI)