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Bengaluru, Jan 20: The suspense over chief minister BS Yediyurappa expanding his council of ministers is set to continue until after he returns from his trip to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Yediyurappa, who heads a 10-member delegation to the Swiss ski resort, left on Sunday. Prior to his departure, he told reporters cabinet expansion will happen only after his return on January 24. “I discussed the issue with [BJP] national president Amit Shah for 30 minutes or so. He has given a positive response and I will expand the cabinet within two days after my return,” Yediyurappa said.

But sources said Shah, during his visit to Hubballi on Saturday, had indicated the exercise is likely to be delayed further as the central leadership will be busy with the assembly elections in Delhi. “Indications are there is no possibility of expanding the cabinet until February 11 when the electoral process for the Delhi elections ends,” said a source.

The development has obviously left ministerial aspirants, especially defectors from Congress and JD(S) who were re-elected on BJP tickets last month, restive. Moreover, while Yediyurappa has promised ministerial berths to all MLAs who switched to the BJP from Congress and JD(S), sources say Shah is only in favour of inducting six defectors (11 of whom won MLA seats on saffron party tickets in the byelections) into the cabinet.

“Shah’s advice to Yediyurappa is to strike a balance between defectors and loyalists. His concern is loyalists should not be left disappointed, while justice should be served to the defectors as well,” said a BJP functionary.

Meanwhile, KS Eshwarappa, senior party functionary and minister for rural development, said the BJP would never let down the defectors. “The party is indebted to them and I am sure they will all be rewarded,” he said.

BC Patil, one of the defectors, said some of them had met Shah in one-on-one meetings in Hubballi. “It was more a courtesy call and the issue of cabinet expansion didn’t come up during the meeting,” he said.

Mangaluru, May 5: A day after lockdown was partially relaxed in Dakshina Kannada, a fresh covid-19 positive case was reported today from Boloor area of Mangaluru.

In its fresh bulletin, health and family welfare department today said that the throat swabs of a 51-year-old man from Boloor tested positive for the coronavirus.

Boloor is already declared as corona containment zone in the district after as this is the fourth coronavirus positive case reported from the area.

With this, the total number of coronavirus cases in Dakshina Kannada mounted to 25 including 19 residents of the district and six outsiders who have already left the district after getting treatment.

New Delhi, Jan 20: Security has been beefed up at airports across the country after a suspicious bag was found at the Mangaluru airport on Monday.

According to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which guards the airports in the country, a man was captured in the CCTV dropping the bag inside Mangaluru airport.

According to the CISF DIG Anil Pandey, traces of improvised explosive device (IED) have been found from the bag.

"According to CCTV footage, a suspect kept the bag at Mangaluru airport and was then seen leaving in auto while concealing his face. The suspected object was detected timely and local bomb disposal team is working on its disposal," DIG Pandey told media.

"We have found traces of IED from a bag lying at a ticket counter in Mangaluru airport, we have safely evacuated it," DIG Pandey told media.

According to sources, initial investigations have revealed that the bag contained some type of black powder.

"Initial investigation has revealed that the bag contained a black powder which seems to be explosive, though it is yet to be cleared what kind of explosive it is," sources claimed.

"After we found the suspicious bag at Mangaluru airport, a security drill has been initiated at all the airports and CISF staff have been asked to beef up security," DIG Pandey said.

Also Read: IED recovered from Mangaluru Airport defused safely; 3 teams formed to nab suspect: Top cop