Bengaluru: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has approved Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s proposal of a Cabinet expansion. He approved the proposal to induct nine of the newly-elected MLAs, who had switched from other parties, and three BJP leaders.

According to sources, Umesh Katti is all set to make it into the state Cabinet as an original BJP leader. In the meanwhile, rumours have it that three names are being considered for the other two posts. They are Kundapura MLA Halady Srinivas Shetty, Halappa Achar and Aravind Limbavali.

For now, Limbavali is unlikely to make into the Cabinet due to a number of reasons. This means that Shetty and Achar might make it into the Cabinet.

Halady Srinivas Shetty, a popular leader from coastal Karnataka, quit the BJP in 2012 after he was denied a ministerial berth. He was elected as an independent candidate and later returned to the party fold in 2017.