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Nineteen Congress legislators were sworn in as ministers in the Karnataka Cabinet on Monday, August 3, in a major expansion of Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's council of ministers. This takes the total number of ministers to 33. The ceremony took place while many of the MLAs who did not get a berth rebelled openly, expressing their disappointment to the media. Supporters of some of the MLAs staged protests and blocked roads.
Two lists were issued by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) with the legislators being sworn in. The second list replaced Bhatkal MLA Mankal Vaidya’s name with that of former minister SS Mallikarjun. The name of MLC Gayathri Shantegowda was also on both the lists, but she was dropped and was not sworn in. As of now, there are no women in Shivakumar’s cabinet.
Two Karnataka Congress MLAs, Yashavantarayagouda V Patil and Belur Gopalakrishna, resigned from the Legislative Assembly on Monday after being left out of the state Cabinet expansion.
Yashavantarayagouda V Patil, MLA from Indi, submitted his resignation to the Deputy Speaker at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. Belur Gopalakrishna, the party’s MLA from Sagar, also announced his resignation ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers at Lok Bhavan.
Other leaders like former ministers TB Jayachandra, SN Subba Reddy and CS Nadagouda expressed their disappointment about not being chosen for cabinet berths. TB Jayachandra reportedly hosted a meeting of disgruntled MLAs at his residence in Bengaluru, even as the swearing-in ceremony was going on. Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah did not attend the swearing-in ceremony.
Chief Minister DK Shivakumar appealed to party legislators to remain patient, saying that everyone would get an opportunity at some point.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Shivakumar said, "We have many aspirants, and many MLAs are deserving. At times, the party has to make a decision. In 2004, I too was not inducted into the Cabinet. Even in Siddaramaiah's government, I was not made a minister initially. We remained patient then, and it is because I remained patient that I am in this position today."
Ministers and the oaths they took:
Ajay Singh, son of former Chief Minister Dharam Singh and a three-time MLA from Jewargi, took the oath in the name of God
Five-time MLA from Magadi, HC Balakrishna, took the oath in the name of God.
First-time MLA from Mayakonda constituency, KS Basavanthappa took the oath in the name of 12th-century social reformer, Basaveshwara, and God.
Six-time MLA from Yelburga, Basavaraj Rayareddi did not take any name for the oath.
Nagamangala MLA N Chaluvarayaswamy, a four-time MLA, took the oath in the name of God.
Four-term Athani MLA Laxman Savadi, who also served as Deputy Chief Minister earlier, took the oath in the name of God.
Former Education minister and Soraba MLA Madhu Bangarappa took the oath in the name of God
Former Minister SS Mallikarjun, four-term MLA from Davanagere North constituency in the name of God. Mallikarjun, who has served as a minister in each of his four terms, was a last-minute addition, replacing Bhatkal MLA Mankal Vaidya.
Four-time MLA B Nagendra from Bellary Rural took the oath in the name of God. Nagendra, who was also a minister in the Siddaramaiah government, had to resign due to political pressure after allegations of illegal transfer of money in Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited.
Three-term Malavalli MLA PM Narendraswamy in the name of BR Ambedkar, Veera Gangadhara Ajjaya and God.
Four-time MLA from the Chamarajanagar constituency C Puttarangashetty took oath in the name of God
Three-time MLA T Raghumoorthy from Challakere took oath in the name of God.
Two-time MLA from Shivajinagar Rizwan Arshad did not take any name for the oath.
Rudrappa Lamani took oath in the name of God. Earlier in the day, he resigned as the Deputy Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly before being inducted into the Cabinet.
Santosh S Lad, a four-term MLA from Kalghatagi, who previously served as Labour Minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet, was sworn in as a Cabinet minister.
K M Shivalingegowda, a four-time MLA from Arsikere, took oath in the name of God.
Shivaraj Tangadagi, Kanakagiri MLA and former Karnataka Minister for Kannada and Culture in the Siddaramaiah government, took oath in the name of God.
Vijayanand Kashappanavar, a two-term MLA from Hungund, took oath in the name of God.
B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, a five-term MLA from Chamarajapete and former Waqf Minister in the Siddaramaiah government, took oath as a Cabinet minister in English, in the name of Allah and his mother.
