Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will visit New Delhi on Monday to hold discussions with the BJP central leadership on various issues, including the reshuffle/expansion in the state cabinet.
Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, Mr Bommai confirmed his visit to the national capital on Monday and said it has been a practice to meet all the MPs of the state ahead of the state budget. When asked about a possible cabinet reform, he said, “I will not discuss that issue publicly.”
He said it was part of the tradition for the chief minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, to hold a meeting with state MPs before presenting the budget. The Chief Minister will present his first budget next month.
Mr Bommai said that he would also meet the lawyers representing the state in inter-state water disputes. Matters relating to inter-state river disputes involving Karnataka are pending before the Supreme Court.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Chief Minister had said that he would visit Delhi on Thursday. But later speaking at the BJP office, Mr Bommai said that he would go only on Monday. Sources said unavailability of central party leaders to discuss the cabinet reshuffle/expansion issue on Thursday forced the chief minister to postpone his visit.
four vacancies
There are four vacancies against the full strength of 34 ministers in the state cabinet. Several MLAs are keen to make it to the cabinet as a last chance before next year’s elections to the state assembly. Mr Bommai is being pressured to expand at the earliest.
Mr Bommai said: “I will start pre-budget preparations from February 7” and there will be department-wise meetings. He said that the state-wise allocation will be released by the Center in two days.
The size of the state budget will be decided on the basis of loans and grants made available in the Union Budget. “Once this is available, we will assess which schemes are in progress, which are new schemes and what is the ratio of funds (of the state and the Centre) for these schemes. Based on this, the funds provided by the Centre. With grants-in-aid and loans, we have to fix our budget,” Mr Bommai said.
The state was expecting an additional allocation of capital outlay of ₹3,000 crore from the Center in 2022-23.