The Karnataka Congress has inducted 24 MLAs as cabinet ministers on Saturday following an oath taking ceremony at Vidhana Soudha in Benglauru.
List of 24 MLAs to be ministers
The list of ministers taking includes HK Patil, Krishna Byregowda, N Cheluvarayaswamy, K Venkatesh, HC Mahadevappa, Eshwar Khandre, Kyathasandra N Rajanna, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Sharanabasappa Darshanapur, Shivanand Patil, Timmapur Ramappa Balappa, SS Mallikarjun, Tangadagi Shivaraj Sangappa, Sharanaprakash Rudrappa Patil, Mankal Vaidya, Laxmi R Hebbalkar, Rahim Khan, D Sudhakar, Santosh S Lad, NS Boseraju, Suresha BS, Madhu Bangarappa, MC Sudhakar, B Nagendra.
Ten ministers, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, were sworn in on May 20 as part of the Karnataka government, which can have a total of 34 ministers.
CM assures balance in ministry
Siddaramaiah has assured ministerial aspirants that a cabinet reshuffle will occur in two years, providing them an opportunity. However, some MLAs expressed their disappointment upon losing their ministerial positions.
The Chief Minister emphasized that the selection of ministers was based on maintaining a balance of caste-wise and regional representation, as well as considering senior and junior MLAs for social justice.
Number of ministers according to various communities
The cabinet includes three ministers from Scheduled Castes, two from Scheduled Tribes, and five from Other Backward Communities, namely Kuruba, Raju, Maratha, Ediga, and Mogaveera. Dinesh Gundu Rao represents the Brahmin community in the cabinet.
Minsters according to region
The geographical distribution of ministers is as follows: seven each from Old Mysuru and Kalyana Karnataka regions, six from Kittur Karnataka region, and two from central Karnataka. The names of the 24 MLAs for ministerial positions were finalized after extensive deliberations between Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, and top central leaders, including AICC general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala. The list received the final approval from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress party achieved a resounding victory in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, winning 135 out of 224 seats and displacing the BJP from power. The BJP secured a distant second with 66 seats, while the JD(S) only managed to secure 19 seats, falling short of its kingmaker aspirations.
