‘Have patience’, asserted Karnataka’s Chief Minister D. K. Shivkumar, after chairing an informal meeting of his Cabinet, which was expanded with the induction of 19 ministers on Monday. Addressing the disgruntled Congress lawmakers to have patience in order to get rewarded, D.K. Shivkumar said that they would be accommodated suitably in the coming days.
Citing his own example and that of his deputy G. Parameshwara, Shivkumar said, “The likes of S Bangarappa, Mallikarjun Kharge, Dharam Singh and Lakkappa weren’t made ministers at one point. Under S M Krishna, Aziz Sait wasn’t in the Cabinet. In the Dharam Singh Cabinet, Parameshwara and I were kept out. Even in the first Siddaramaiah Cabinet, Parameshara and I had to wait,” Shivakumar explained.
He assured them that he and Parmeshwara would personally reach out to them. Chairing a two-hour-long meeting of the expanded cabinet, Shivkumar asked his new colleagues to start touring districts on Wednesday and look up the challenges.
Two months after resuming office, Chief Minister D K Shivkumar on Monday inducted 19 MLAs as ministers, taking the cabinet strength to 33. Putting an end to the speculation, the event saw a couple of records, seven SC ministers in the 33-member ministry, the first in 22 years, and no representation for Brahmin community for the first time since Karnataka’s reorganization.The inductees include eight first-time ministers and seven ministers from the Siddaramaiah cabinet. Among the younger entrants are Rizwan Arshad (46) and Ajay Dharam Singh (51). B Nagendra, who resigned over alleged Valmiki Corporation scam in 2024, has returned to the cabinet.
In a touch of drama and confusion, within an hour of releasing the initial list of 20 names, the high command replaced Bhatkal MLA Mankal Vaidya with Devanagere North MLA S.S. Mallikarjun, without giving any reasons. MLC Gayathri Shanthegowda, said to be the lone woman minister, was also dropped hours before swearing-in amid a dispute over her election from Chikmagaluru local authority constituency, which is pending before the Supreme Court.