Karnataka cabinet expansion: These 24 MLAs swearing-in today as ministers
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is all set to expand his existing 10-member cabinet, with 24 more MLAs taking oath as ministers on Saturday. The new cabinet would include representation from all castes and regions, with equal respect given to senior and younger MLAs, the Karnataka Congress claimed, reported PTI. The names of 24 MLAs were finalized in a series of consultative sessions in Delhi.
Why does this story matter?
The Congress made an impressive comeback in Karnataka after winning the recently concluded assembly elections and forming the state government on its own after 10 years. The results also maintained the state's custom of giving mandates to new governments every five years. In the 224-seat Karnataka Assembly, the Congress won 135 seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was limited to just 66.
Prominent Congress leaders getting ministerial berths
Among the prominent leaders who will likely take oath as ministers on Saturday are MLAs HK Patil, Krishna Byregowda, N Cheluvarayaswamy, K Venkatesh, HC Mahadevappa, Congress Working President Eshwar Khandre, and former Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao. Notably, the Karnataka government can have 34 ministers, of which 10, including CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, were already sworn in on May 20.
Loyalists of CM Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar get cabinet positions
According to reports, others on the list include Kyathasandra N Rajanna, Sharanabasappa Darshanapur, Shivanand Patil, Ramappa Balappa Timmapur, 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. Reportedly, Siddaramaiah has given his and Shivakumar's loyalists more ministerial berths in this expansion.
Cabinet to have representation from all castes, regions
The Congress's list of ministers seems strategically created as it includes names from all castes and sub-castes. It reportedly includes six Lingayat and four Vokkaliga MLAs, three MLAs from Scheduled Castes, two from Scheduled Tribes, one from the Brahmin community, and five from Other Backward Communities. Every region, including Old Mysuru, Kalyana Karnataka, Kittur Karnataka, and central Karnataka, has representations in the cabinet.
New ministers finalized after Congress high-command's approval
The cabinet expansion decision was reportedly made after CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy Shivakumar met with party general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala on Thursday in New Delhi. The names of 24 potential candidates were discussed and forwarded to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, who reportedly approved it. Notably, the two leaders met former party chiefs Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
