The Congress high command on Monday approved the induction of 20 leaders into the Karnataka Cabinet as Chief Minister DK Shivakumar carried out a major expansion of his ministry, with the new Council of Ministers reflecting a broad social and regional representation across the state.
The Cabinet expansion retains seven Lingayat ministers, the same as in the previous Council of Ministers, while a leader from the Reddy community has been appointed as the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
The Vokkaliga community has also retained five ministerial berths, maintaining its representation in the Cabinet.
In a first for Karnataka, the Cabinet includes seven Scheduled Caste (SC) ministers, comprising three from the SC (Right) category, two from SC (Left), one Lambani representative and one Bhovi representative, ensuring representation across different SC communities.
The ministry also includes three Scheduled Tribe (ST) ministers.
Minority representation has also increased, with four key positions being held by members of the Muslim community--three Cabinet ministers and the Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council--marking another first for the state.
The Cabinet includes five ministers from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), while the Deputy Speakers of both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council also belong to backward class communities.
Overall, the expanded Council of Ministers has a majority representation from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backwards Classes and minority communities.
However, several senior Congress leaders did not find a place in the expanded ministry. Those left out include HK Patil, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Shivanand Patil, RB Thimmapur, RV Deshpande, K Venkatesh, SS Mallikarjun, Krishnappa, Tanveer Sait, Appaji Nadagouda and HC Mahadevappa.
Many of the excluded leaders have previously served as ministers in Congress governments and were considered strong contenders for inclusion in the new Cabinet.
Their omission has triggered discussions over the balance between experience, regional representation and community-based allocation of ministerial berths.
The development has also led to disappointment among supporters of the senior leaders, even as the party has indicated that leaders not accommodated in the Cabinet will be assigned appropriate organisational or governmental responsibilities.
According to an official press release, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge approved the induction of PM Narendraswamy, Shivaraj Tangadagi, Rudrappa Lamani, KS Basavanthappa, B Nagendra, T Raghumoorthy, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, Rizwan Arshad, Santosh Lad, Madhu Bangarappa, Putturangashetty, Mankala Vaidya, Ajay Singh, N. Chaluvaraya Swamy, KM Shivalinge Gowda, HC Balakrishna, Gayathri Shanthegowda, Basavaraj Rayareddi, Vijayanand Kashappanavar, and Laxman Savadi as ministers.
The oath-taking ceremony of the Karnataka cabinet expansion will take place at 04:05 PM at Lok Bhavan in Bengaluru.
Among the approved names, Gayathri Shanthegowda is the only woman minister. The list also includes several new entrants to the cabinet, including PM Narendraswamy, KS Basavanthappa, T. Raghumoorthy, Putturangashetty, Ajay Singh, and Gayathri Shanthegowda, while several former ministers are making a return to the Council of Ministers.
The Congress high command also approved appointments to key positions in the Karnataka Legislature. G. S. Patil has been cleared for the post of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, AS Ponnanna for Deputy Speaker, Saleem Ahmed for Chairperson of the Legislative Council, and Umashree for Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Council.
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said the final decision on the cabinet expansion rested with the Congress high command. Speaking to reporters, Kharge said, "The high command is deciding on it, and we are expecting it to be announced today. We have more than 140 MLAs. We have MLAs in every district. We have MLAs in every community. We have a lot of capable leaders. We have depth in leadership. So, it is going to be difficult to pick only 30 out of the 140 legislators we have."
The D.K. Shivakumar ministry represents the current council of ministers in Karnataka, formed following a leadership transition. Operating under the leadership of Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, the administration features a mix of key cabinet members including G. Parameshwara, KH Muniyappa, KJ George, MB Patil, Ramalinga Reddy, Satish Jarkiholi, Krishna Byre Gowda, Priyank Kharge, UT Khader, Eshwara Khandre, Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Byrathi Suresh, and Sharan Prakash Patil. (ANI)
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