Karnataka Congress cabinet expands with 8 Lingayats, 6 Vokkaligas

On Saturday, the Congress government in Karnataka expanded with 24 MLAs taking oath as ministers and the party seeking to represent various castes and groups.

Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot administered the oath at Raj Bhavan in Bangalore in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. 

Six members of the Vokkaliga community, eight Lingayats, four from the Scheduled Caste community, three from the Scheduled Tribes, two from the Muslim community, and one from the Christian community make up the new cabinet. The Maratha and Brahmin communities are also represented.

23 MLAs took the oath in Kannada, while one took the oath in English. While the majority of MLAs took their oaths in the name of God, others took the names of deities and revered figures.

The Congress government in Karnataka now has a total of 34 ministers, including the Chief Minister, thanks to this cabinet expansion.

NS Bosaraju, who took oath as minister, is neither an MLA nor an MLC and is considered a Siddaramaiah loyalist. Senior leaders and former ministers such as RV Deshpande, Basavaraja Rayareddy, and TB Jayachandra, who are considered Siddaramaiah supporters, were unable to find a place in the cabinet. NA Harris, a Shivakumar supporter, was also passed over for the cabinet.

Members of the Banjara community, which is thought to have supported Congress during the election, were not appointed to the council of ministers. Rudrappa Lamani, a former minister and Banjara community leader who had hoped to be appointed to the cabinet, was unable to attend. His supporters claimed that his name was on the list until last night but did not make the final cut.

The first to take the oath was HK Patil. Nagamangala MLA N Chaluvarayaswamy, a Shivakumar supporter, also took the oath. Krishnabyre Gowda, MLA from Batarayanapur and former minister, takes the oath of office. He appeared to be upset because his name did not appear on the first list of ministers.

HC Mahadevappa, a senior politician and MLA from T Narasipur is a close associate of Siddaramaiah and hails from the Old Mysore region. From 2013 to 2018, he was the PWD minister in Siddaramaiah’s cabinet.

Balki MLA Ishwar Khandre, who previously served as a minister and is the working president of the Karnataka Congress, was among the other experienced leaders who took the oath. Dinesh Gundurao, former Minister and Gandhi Nagar MLA, and Sharanbasappa Darshanapura, Shahapur MLA and former minister, took the oath of office. In 2006, he was a minister.

KN Rajanna took the oath of allegiance in the names of Buddha, Basava, Ambedkar, and Valmiki. He is the Madhugiri MLA.

MLA Shivananda Patil of Basavan Bagewadi took the oath in the name of Anna Basavanna. In 2018, he served as a minister in HD Kumaraswamy’s cabinet.

SS Mallikarjuna, MLA from Davangere Uttar Constituency, took the oath in the name of Lord Kalleswara. He is the son of Shamanur Sivashankarappa, the Legislative Assembly’s most senior member.

Mankalu Vaidya, a Bhatkal MLA, became a minister for the first time. Former Chief Minister B.S. Bangarappa’s son and MLA from Soraba, Madhu Bangarappa, is from the Ediga community.

Rahim Khan, MLA for Bidar North Constituency, took his oath in English. He previously served as the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs.

D Sudhakar, MLA from Hiriyur, took the oath in the name of Lord Teru Malleshwar. In 2008, he was the Minister of Social Welfare. Chintamani MLA MC Sudhakar and Bellary Rural MLA B Nagendra were also sworn in as ministers.