Karnataka cabinet expansion: 24 MLAs to be sworn in as ministers on Saturday

The Congress party on Friday released list of 24 MLAs who will take the oath as ministers in the 224-member assembly. As per reports, these ministers are slated to take oath on Saturday.

The list features names of Dinesh Gundu Rao, Krishna Byre Gowda, Eshwar Khandre, Raheem Khan, Santosh Lad, K N Rajanna, Peeriyapattana Venkatesh, H C Mahadevappa, Byrathi Suresh, C Puttarangashetty, Shivaraj Tangadi, R B Timmpur and B Nagendra, all of whom are considered close to Siddaramaiah.

The sources added that Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Madhu Bangarappa, D Sudhakar, Cheluvaraya Swami, Mankul Vaidya and M C Sudhakar are also among the list of ministers included in the expanded cabinet, all of whom are considered close to Shivakumar.


As many as eight ministers along with the chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar have already taken oath on May 20.

The list comes after days of hectic deliberations. For the last three days, the Karnataka CM along with his deputy have been camping in the national capital for discussions on cabinet expansion. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi gave their final nod to the list which balances caste and regional equations in the southern state.

The Karnataka cabinet can have a total of 34 ministers including the chief minister. The sources said the expanded cabinet will have four new ministers belonging to the Lingayat community and an equal number from the Vokkaliga community, besides two each from among scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, one from the Muslim community, a Brahmin and a woman.

(With inputs from PTI)