Bengaluru: DK Shivakumar, who has fulfilled a decade-long dream, has taken office as the Chief Minister, and after a lot of hard work, the first list of his new cabinet has been made official. A total of 13 MLAs took oath as ministers along with Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and this list was finalized after marathon meetings held at the high command level. CM DK Shivakumar himself called the appointed ministers and invited them to the oath-taking ceremony.
Notably, most of the senior and experienced leaders who were in the previous Siddaramaiah cabinet have been continued in the DK Cabinet this time too, and experience in administration has been given priority.
How is the caste and community-wise calculation?
Keeping in mind the upcoming political equations, the Congress High Command has prepared the first list very carefully based on caste calculations. It has given details of the representation given to major communities.
Lingayat Community: Three ministers have been given ministerial berths in the first list under the Lingayat quota, one of the influential communities in the state.
Vokkaliga Community: Two ministers have been given ministerial berths in the Vokkaliga quota, which is Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s own community.
Dalit (Right-handed) Community: Two leaders from the Dalit Right-handed community have been given a place in the cabinet as part of social justice.
Shepherd Community: Two ministers have been selected from the Shepherd community, a major community of backward classes.
Minorities and Other Communities: One from the Muslim community and one from the Christian community have been given a place in the cabinet to maintain balance. Along with this, one leader from the Valmiki community of the ST sect has also got a place in the DKSH cabinet.
DK Cabinet
DK Shivakumar, Chief Minister
Okkaliga, 9 times MLA
Kanakapura (Ramanagar)
Dr. G. Parameshwar, Deputy Chief Minister
Dalit, 6 times MLA
Koratagere (Tumkur)
KH Muniappa
Dalit, first time MLA, 7 time MP
Devanahalli (Bangalore)
KJ George
Christian, 6 times MLA
Sarvajna Nagar (Bangalore)
MB Patil
Lingayat, 6 time MLA
Babaleshwar (Vijaypur)
Ramalingareddy
Reddy Okkaliga, 8 times MLA
BTM Layout (Bangalore)
Satish Jarakiholi
ST (Valmiki)
4 time MLA/2 time MLC
Yamakanamaradi (Belagavi)
Krishnabaire Gowda
Okkaliga, 5 times MLA
Batarayanpur (Bangalore)
Priyank Kharge
Dalit, 3-time MLA
Chittapur (Kalaburagi)
U.T. Khader
Muslim, 3-time MLA
Mangalore (Dakshina Kannada)
Ishwar Khandre
Lingayat, 4-time MLA
Bhalki (Bidar)
Yathindra Siddaramaiah
Kuruba, MLC
Mysore
Bairati Suresh
Kuruba, 2-time MLA
Hebbal (Bengaluru)
Sharanaprakash Patil
Lingayat, 3-time MLA
Sedam (Kalaburagi)
As the first list of D.K. Shivakumar’s new cabinet is being finalized, the high command has given a shock to many key leaders who had been working hard for ministerial berths till the last minute. Despite heavy lobbying at the Delhi level, the high command has disappointed senior aspirants by making some major changes in the cabinet list at the final stage.
Last-minute disappointment for Hebbalkar
It is a big surprise that senior leader Lakshmi Hebbalkar, who had been working hard at the high command level to become a minister, did not get a place in this list. It is being said that she, who was a strong aspirant for the ministerial post from the beginning, has been set back by last-minute political equations and major changes in the cabinet.
No place for Zameer
The recent audio controversy has become a huge problem for former minister and Siddaramaiah’s close friend Zameer Ahmed Khan. Since the day the audio was released, Zameer had been making a big circus to join the cabinet through Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar. However, in the wake of the controversy, the high command has sent a strict message by not giving him a place in the first list.
Jarkiholi’s insistence partially agreed
On the other hand, Satish Jarkiholi, who was a minister in Siddaramaiah’s cabinet, had his eyes on the post of KPCC president along with the ministerial post this time. He had insisted before the high command that he be given both the ministerial post and the party leadership. But the high command did not fully yield to his demand and agreed to give him only the ministerial post for the time being.