Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday said seven new Ministers will take oath of office later in the day, as he expands his 17-month old cabinet. Indicating that Excise Minister H Nagesh will be dropped from the Ministry, he said one berth will be kept vacant where defector Muniratha was sidelined.

The list of seven new ministers who will take oath today are Umesh Katti, Arvind Limbavali, MTB Nagaraj, Murugesh Nirani, R Shankar, C P Yogeshwar and S Angara, Yediyurappa said.

The cabinet currently has 27 members, and seven berths are vacant.

According to a state Information Department release, Governor Vajubhai Vala will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new members who will be inducted to the Cabinet at 3.50 pm at the Glass House of Raj Bhavan on Wednesday.

This would be the third expansion of the cabinet since Yediyurappa assumed charge in July, 2019 after the collapse of the Congress-JDS government in the wake of revolt by 17 MLAs of the coalition partners.

A mix of old guards and new entrants from Congress and JDS are making into the cabinet. But the surprise was RR Nagar MLA N Muniratha not making it to the list, as Chief Minister while campaigning during the November, 2020 by polls to the constituency announced that he will be made Minister on being elected. Muniratha was also among the Congress-JD(S) rebels who switched over to the BJP.

Keeping up the promise, Congress-JD(S) rebels-turned BJP MLCs R Shankar and M T B Nagaraj, who helped the saffron party come to power, MLC Yogeshwar, who is said to have played a key role by managing Congress-JD(S) rebel MLAs, during the political turmoil in the state in 2019, Umesh Katti (Hukkeri), S Angara (Sullia), Murugesh Nirani (Bilgi) and Arvind Limbavali (Mahadevapura),Katti (eight time MLA), Nirani and Limbavali (state BJP Vice President) will be inducted into the cabinet. (With inputs from PTI)