Prime Minister Modi has rewarded Karnataka for BJP’s phenomenal performance in the state, by elevating three MPs to the cabinet rank, and one as the Union minister of state
Bengaluru: Let’s accept it openly. Top brasses, neither in the state nor at the national level, were sanguine about BJP getting in excess of 22 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
But truth is indeed stranger than fiction. BJP went on to win 25 out of 28 seats.
That meant there was enormous pressure on the Modi-Shah duo to give adequate representation for the state. And quite wittingly, three have been made cabinet ministers, while one has been made Union minister of State.
Nirmala Sitharaman is a Rajya Sabha member from Bengaluru. She has been given the ministry of finance. She becomes the first woman finance minister in India in nearly five decades.
Pralhad Joshi is an MP from Dharwad and has made it to Lok Sabha as many as four times. He has been the given the portfolio of Parliamentary Affairs and ministry of coals and mines.
Sadananda Gowda, an MP from Bangalore North twice and once from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru is the minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers.
Suresh Angadi is a four-time MP from Belgaum. He is the Union minister of State for railways.
The state BJP feels rewarded for the sincerity it exhibited in voting Modi back.
“We are extremely happy that our MPs have been given a chance to perform. These are all important portfolios. So, we wish them success,” said Shreenath Sheshadri, a BJP spokesperson.
There were talks that there was caste consideration before cherry-picking the four MPs. But political analysts feel otherwise.
“Modi has been quite meticulous in awarding ministries. Four is indeed a good number. He has seen that Karnataka has responded with as many as 25 seats. So, he has awarded Karnataka handsomely. He has chosen faces who have been elected consistently. It is purely based on their efficiency that Modi has handpicked them. There is no caste consideration whatsoever,” says Harish Ramaswamy, a political analyst.
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