JD(S) MLC and Legislative Council interim chairman Basaravaraj Horatti is tipped to fill the slot vacated by former minister N Mahesh in the H D Kumaraswamy Cabinet. Horatti is also likely to be entrusted with the Primary and Secondary Education portfolio, previously held by Mahesh.

Sources in the JD(S) said party supremo H D Deve Gowda and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had already held discussions with Horatti in this regard. Kumaraswamy is learnt to be keen on inducting Horatti at the earliest (after the bypolls), given that the examination season is just a few months away. The portfolio fell vacant on October 11, after Mahesh, the lone Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) minister, tendered his resignation.