Karnataka: Cabinet expansion this week as Congress leadership to meet on Tuesday

Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday said the long-delayed Cabinet expansion would be completed by the end of the week, sounding confident that the Congress leadership would finalise the list of new ministers at a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.

AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, Shivakumar, Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president BK Hariprasad will attend the meeting on Tuesday and decide on the final list, party sources said.

Deputy CM G Parameshwara said the expansion would proceed only after the party high command approved the names.


"The Cabinet expansion will happen only if the high command takes a decision," he told reporters in Bengaluru.

The CM had tentatively planned the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday or Friday, but the schedule will depend on Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's availability. The expansion was originally slated for last week, but the Congress leadership deferred the exercise as Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders remained occupied with student protests in Delhi.

Sources said Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah have submitted separate lists of prospective ministers. Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have favoured greater representation for younger legislators and women, raising the possibility of a few surprise inclusions.

The delay has prompted the government to postpone the monsoon session of the legislature by a week from the earlier schedule of August 6.

Shivakumar had hoped to complete the expansion soon after taking office on June 3, when he was sworn in along with 13 ministers. The prolonged delay has intensified lobbying by senior MLAs and former ministers, with the 2028 Assembly election less than two years away.

Around 50 Congress legislators are competing for nearly 20 vacant Cabinet berths. The prospect of inducting more first-time ministers has fuelled anxiety among senior aspirants.

Shivakumar has said he is not in favour of leaving Cabinet vacancies, amid speculation that the party could keep two berths vacant to manage future political contingencies.

The Congress leadership is also learnt to be weighing the possibility of creating one or two additional deputy chief minister posts to strengthen its social and regional balance ahead of the 2028 Assembly polls.