Siddaramaiah expands Cabinet, 28 Ministers sworn in

BANGALORE: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today expanded his Cabinet with the induction of 28 Ministers.

Twenty were made Cabinet Ministers and eight Ministers of State.

They were administered oath of office by Governor H R Bhardwaj at a ceremony at Glass House at Raj Bhavan.

Senior party leaders including R V Deshpande, Qamar-ul -Islam, T B Jayachandra and H K Patil were among those made Cabinet Ministers, along with Shivaraj S Thangadagi, who won the 2008 elections as an independent and joined the Congress before the May five polls.

The Ministry now has five vacancies as Siddaramaiah can accommodate a total of 33 ministers given the strength of the Assembly, which is 224.

The Cabinet ministers are: R V Deshpande, Qamar-ul-Islam, Prakash B Hukkeri, Ramalinga Reddy, T B Jayachandra, B Ramanath Rai, H K Patil, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, V Srinivasa Prasad, H C Mahadevappa, K J George, H S Mahadeva Prasad, M H Ambarish, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Baburao Chinchanasur, U T Khadar, Satish Jarkiholi, M B Patil, H Anjaneya and Shivaraj S Thangadagi.

Those made Ministers of State are Abhaychandra Jain, Dinesh Gundurao, Krishna Byregowda, Sharana Prakash Patil, Santosh Lad, Kimmane Ratnakar, Umashree and P T Parameshwar Naik