Karnataka Cabinet Expansion: Siddaramaiah Ministry Inducts 24 Ministers

BENGALURU: In Karnataka, 24 new ministers took the oath of office today, enlarging Chief Minister Siddaraiah's cabinet one week after the Congress took over in the southern state. They were sworn in under the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot.

34 ministers are permitted in the Karnataka government. On May 20, ten of them, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, took the oath of office.

Among those who took the oath today were former state Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao, MLAs HK Patil, Krishna Byregowda, N Cheluvarayaswamy, K Venkatesh, and HC Mahadevappa.

SS Mallikarjun, Shivaraj Sangappa Tangadagi, Sharanaprakash Rudrappa Patil, Mankal Vaidya, Laxmi Hebbalkar, Rahim Khan, D Sudhakar, Santosh Lad, NS Boseraju, Suresha BS, Madhu Bangarappa, MC Sudhakar, and B Nagendra are also included on the list.

According to Congress sources, Mr. Shivakumar is friendly with Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Madhu Bangarappa, D. Sudhakar, Cheluvaraya Swami, Mankul Vaidya, and MC Sudhakar.

According to an official statement, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah achieved a balance by providing caste- and region-specific representation in addition to showing respect for both senior and junior MLAs.

He added that there will be eight Lingayats in the cabinet. Different segments of the community have been represented within them.

According to the statement, there will be five Vokkaligas, including Mr. Shivakumar. It stated that there will be nine Scheduled Caste ministers in the government.

The portfolios still haven't been assigned. By Saturday night, according to state minister KH Muniyappa, the portfolios will be disclosed.

For the past three days, Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar have both been in Delhi and have met with the party leadership on numerous occasions.

After hours of frantic discussion between Siddaramaiah, Mr. Shivakumar, and the senior central leaders, including AICC general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala, the names of the 24 MLAs were chosen. The list received final approval from former party president Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

In order to be sworn in as ministers in the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led cabinet on Saturday, the Congress party released a list of 24 MPs on Friday. The Cabinet will then have 34 members total, which is its maximum number. Siddaramaiah, the chief minister, and DK Shivakumar, his deputy, were present as the new ministers took their oaths.

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