Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is looking to appoint two more Deputy Chief Ministers (DCM) in addition to the three DCMs currently serving within the state cabinet, according to a report by TOI.
This development comes in the midst of an effort by the BJP’s Karnataka unit to shed its image of being a party of Lingayats. The report further speculates that the new deputy CMs will represent the state’s Scheduled Tribe and Kuruba communities.
Since the current DCMs are representatives of the Scheduled Cast, Lingayat, and Vokkaliga communities, the latest appointment might help the Yediyurappa government to pacify all five major communities within Karnataka.
Sources also informed TOI that the move will keep the Chief Minister in check while developing a substantial vote bank across the state.
The BJP party has begun to realise that it needs to reach out to voters from other communities as well in order to ensure that it stays in power.
A senior BJP leader said, “The BJP high command is confident of reaping a rich political dividend with this new experiment.”
It can be recalled that the BJP party has never secured a simple majority in any of the state legislative assembly elections.
However, BSY’s decision is unlikely to be made before the Supreme Court rules on the plea filed by the 17 disqualified MLAs.
