Indus Valley Times

Karnataka,May 27 :  A week after taking over, the Congress government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah carried out the cabinet expansion by inducting 24 legislators inside the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru at 11:45 am on Saturday.The Karnataka government can have 34 ministers. Ten of them, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiahwere sworn in on May 20.

The list of MLAs who took oath on Saturday includes Dinesh Gundu Rao, Krishna Byre Gowda, Eshwar Khandre, Raheem Khan, Santosh Lad, KN Rajanna, K Ventakesh, HC Mahadevappa, Byrathi Suresh, Shivaraj Tangadi, RB Timmpur, B Nagendra, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Madhu Bangarappa, D Sudhakar, Cheluvaraya Swami, Mankul Vaidya and MC Sudhakar.

According to sources, Cheluvarayaswamy is likely to get the transport portfolio, Muniyappa will get revenue, Satish Jarikiholi might get the public works department, G Parameshwar might get home, Byrati Suresh might get the urban development department’s charge, MB Patil might take over as industries minister, Nagendra might get youth and sports, Venkatesh might get animal husbandry, Timmpur is likely to excise and Ramalinga Reddy might take charge as the minister of Bangalore development department.

Among the 24 MLAs, who took oath, included as many as nine first-timers and a woman minister.

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Security had been stepped up in and around the Raj Bhavan in view of the crowd that would gather to witness the ceremony. Six Vokkaligas and eight Lingayat leaders have made it to the ministry.

Three ministers are from Scheduled Castes, two from Scheduled Tribes and five from Other Backward Communities — Kuruba, Raju, Maratha, Ediga and Mogaveera.

In Dinesh Gundu Rao, Brahmins have also got representation in the cabinet.

Seven ministers each are from Old Mysuru and Kalyana Karnataka regions, six from Kittur Karnataka region and two from central Karnataka.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has struck a balance by giving caste and region-wise representation along with giving due respect to senior as well as junior MLAs, an official statement said on Friday night.

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The portfolios have not been allotted yet. State Minister KH Muniyappa said the portfolios will be announced by evening. On Friday, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and his Deputy, DK Shivakumar, met former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and discussed portfolios for ministers.

The names of the 24 MLAs were decided after hours of hectic deliberations between Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and the top central leaders, including AICC general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi gave the final nod to the list.

Differences between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had emerged over names of probable ministers but these were sorted out during the discussions, the sources said.

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The Congress secured a landslide victory in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election, winning 135 of the 224 seats, ousting the BJP from power. The BJP secured a distant second with 66 seats and the JD(S), which had hoped to play the kingmaker, was down with just 19 seats.

-The India Today