BENGALURU: The Congress high command on Monday approved the induction of 20 leaders into the Karnataka Cabinet as chief minister DK Shivakumar carried out a major expansion of his ministry, with the new Council of Ministers reflecting broad social and regional representation across the state. The expansion retains seven Lingayat ministers, the same as in the previous Council of Ministers, while a leader from the Reddy community has been appointed Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The Vokkaliga community has also retained five ministerial berths.The Cabinet includes seven Scheduled Caste (SC) ministers, comprising three from the SC (Right) category, two from SC (Left), one Lambani representative and one Bhovi representative. The ministry also includes three Scheduled Tribe (ST) ministers. Minority representation has also increased, with four key positions being held by members of the Muslim community—three Cabinet ministers and the Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council—marking another first for the state. The Cabinet includes five ministers from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), while the Deputy Speakers of both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council also belong to backward class communities. Overall, the expanded Council of Ministers has a majority representation from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and minority communities. However, several senior Congress leaders did not find a place in the expanded ministry. Those left out include HK Patil, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Shivanand Patil, RB Thimmapur, RV Deshpande, K Venkatesh, Krishnappa, Tanveer Sait, Appaji Nadagouda and HC Mahadevappa. Many of the excluded leaders have previously served as ministers in Congress governments and were considered strong contenders for inclusion in the new Cabinet. Their omission has sparked discussions over the balance between experience, regional representation and community-based allocation of ministerial berths. The development has also led to disappointment among supporters of the senior leaders, even as the party indicated that leaders not accommodated in the Cabinet will be assigned appropriate organisational or governmental responsibilities. The 20 leaders inducted into the Cabinet are:
- P. M. Narendraswamy
- Shivaraj Tangadagi
- Rudrappa Lamani
- K. S. Basavanthappa
- B. Nagendra
- T. Raghumoorthy
- B. Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan
- Rizwan Arshad
- Santosh Lad
- Madhu Bangarappa
- Putturangashetty
- S. S. Mallikarjun
- Dr Ajay Singh
- N. Chaluvaraya Swamy
- K. M. Shivalinge Gowda
- H. C. Balakrishna
- Gayathri Shanthegowda
- Basavaraj Rayareddi
- Vijayanand Kashappanavar
- Laxman Savadi
The Congress president also approved appointments to key legislative posts in Karnataka:
- Speaker, Legislative Assembly: G. S. Patil
- Deputy Speaker, Legislative Assembly: A. S. Ponnanna
- Chairperson, Legislative Council: Saleem Ahmed
- Deputy Chairperson, Legislative Council: Umashree
