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Bengaluru, Jan 19: The long-awaited discussions on cabinet expansion finally took place between BJP national president Amit Shah and the state party unit on Saturday, but they produced no result.

Latest indications are that new members will be appointed only after CM BS Yediyurappa returns from Davos, Switzerland, on January 25.

The party held a close-door party meeting at a top hotel in Hubballi. The subject of expanding the cabinet, which currently has 16 vacancies, featured in the talks.

Earlier, Yediyurappa reportedly had a one-on-one with Shah during their 45-minute flight from Bengaluru to Hubballi. He is said to have insisted on accommodating all 11 newly MLAs in the cabinet. These legislators were earlier a part of Congress and JD(S); they contested the December byelections on BJP tickets and won.

This apart, BJP sources said, Yediyurappa and Shah had a brief chat at a private event at Palace Grounds . Separately, Shah, who is the Union home minister, held meetings with Jagadish Shettar, Laxman Savadi and Prahlad Joshi, seeking their views on cabinet expansion.

Shah also wanted to get an idea of what people think about the Yediyurappa government’s performance.

Newly elected MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi, BC Patil and Srimanth Patil greeted Shah. “We only met him to wish him; we didn’t discuss the cabinet issue. That’s something state BJP members will do,” said Hirekerur legislator BC Patil.

Saturday’s deliberations fail to break the stalemate over the cabinet appointments. There are clear differences in the camp about whether all Congress-JD(S) defectors should be made cabinet members, according to a senior minister attended one such meeting.

Shah reportedly wants only seven to eight newly elected MLAs to be made ministers; the rest of the spots should go to BJP loyalists. Yediyurappa disagrees with this position as he had promised all 13 turncoats places in the cabinet. Two lost in the bypolls.

Shah has now asked Yediyurappa to visit Delhi after returning from Davos to finalise the composition of the cabinet, according to the sources.

Yediyurappa will leave for Davos early on Sunday, while Shah will fly directly to Delhi from Hubballi.

Haveri, Jan 16: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday hinted at inducting 16 MLAs into the Cabinet which was due for expansion despite the fact that it was a difficult task.

Participating in a function of Choudayya Community here, he further said one should understand the difficulty faced to undertake cabinet expansion in the prevailing situation and whoever gives suggestion should understand the circumstances otherwise the statements would lead to confusion among the community and people of the state.

He stated that 'as many as 17 MLAs resigned to make me Chief Minister and now their community people want their leader to become Minister, it is very difficult to satisfy all of them'.

Bengaluru, Jan 13: Right-wing organisations, along with BJP and RSS workers, will take out a massive padayatra in Kanakapura on Monday, protesting against the construction of a Jesus Christ statue.

The event organised by the Hindu Jagarana Vedike (HJV) will witness a rally from the Aiyappa temple in Kanakapura to the taluk panchayat office, where a memorandum will be submitted to the authorities following a public meeting.

Ahead of the event, Congress leader D K Shivakumar, in a video message released on Sunday, urged the people of Kanakapura to maintain calm. The former minister cast apprehensions over the event scheduled on Monday and said provocative statements may be made to disturb peace and harmony in Kanakapura.

Shivakumar, who represents the Kanakapura constituency, said the motive of the meeting by the leaders and workers of the BJP and the RSS, along with seers of mutts, was to defame his constituency.

“If any remarks are made against me, my brother (D K Suresh) or people of different faiths in Kanakapura constituency, do not be provoked,” he urged.

“Members of the (Christian) community have prayed at the site for 400 years and are trying to install a statue of Jesus Christ. I have helped the community like I aided hundreds of temples and educational institutions,” he said.

Appealing to maintain peace, Shivakumar said that BJP and RSS leaders were free to petition anybody.  

The BJP and right-wing organisations have objected to the construction of the statue at Kapala Betta, with the BJP government ordering a probe into how road, power supply and other facilities were provided to the hill. Recently, Christian leaders had petitioned Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to remove any impediments to the construction of the statue.