A reshuffle of the State Cabinet is on the cards soon after the budget session of the legislature commencing on June 28.
This was stated by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on the eve of the second anniversary of his Government. In an interaction with The Hindu , the Chief Minister was both confident about delivering on his Government's commitments to the people as well as reflective and frank about its failures. To mark the anniversary, the Government has organised a Sadaneya Samavesha in Bangalore on Friday.
The Cabinet expansion that Mr. Yeddyurappa promises, in consultation with senior leaders, is aimed among other things at “giving a chance to others, especially younger aspirants”.
Mr. Yeddyurappa responded gamely to all questions, including uncomfortable ones. Asked to spell out the three major achievements and the three biggest failures of his Government, the Chief Minister counted the recent Global Investors Meet, in which a sum of nearly Rs. 5 lakh crore was committed by investors; the State's “number one” position in rural development in the entire country; and the Bhagyalakshmi scheme, conceived for the future of the girl child (with nine lakh beneficiaries so far), as his three outstanding achievements.
After some moments of thought, he listed among his Government's failures, first, the State's performance on the power front that was “not up to expectations” and had to be improved; second, inefficiency in administration, particularly in rural areas; and third, the “quality of development work in all sectors, especially roads”, which needs improvement.
Acknowledging the scourge of corruption, which is affecting governance, the Chief Minister said, “My challenge is to improve the power situation, implement the decisions of the Global Investors Meet, and improve the quality and efficiency of the administration for which we will also make use of the party organisation.”
And while committed to the completion of the Bangalore-Mysore expressway project (being executed by the NICE company) as directed by the Supreme Court, he asserted that his “duty” was to ensure that farmers who lost land to the project got their rightful compensation.
And on the issue of what will become of the racecourse land located in the heart of Bangalore, he said 90 per cent of the nearly 80-acre plot would remain an “open lung space”, while the rest would be earmarked for development.
The Chief Minister refused to be drawn into commenting on his rocky equations with either Governor H.R. Bhardwaj or Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde, only saying that he hoped to maintain a “cordial relationship” with the two.
