KARNATA Gets Council Of Ministers 15 Days After CM & Dy CM Were Administered Oath Of Office
ALMOST fortnight after becoming the Chief Minister of Karnataka, H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday expanded his council of ministers. Senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar (in pic above) was among the 25 ministers who took the oath administered by Governor Vajubhai Shiv Kumar was the party’s biggest crisis manager when the party was trying to prevent its lawmakers from being allegedly poached by the BJP.Fourteen ministers are from the Congress, nine from its ruling coalition partner JDS and one each from the BSP and the KPJP. They were administered the oath of office and secrecy at a ceremony at Raj Bhavan D Revanna, son of former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda and elder brother of the CM ,JDS’ G T Deve Gowda, who defeated then chief minister Siddaramiah in Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru in the assembly polls , have inducted in the council of ministers. Actress and MLC Jayamala is the lone woman miister.She represents the Congress. Under the power sharing arrangement, Congress will have 22 ministers and the JDS 12.With today’s expansion, the strength of the ministry has gone up to 27, leaving seven more vacancies to be filled. Kumaraswamy with Dr G Parameshwara had taken oath as Chief Minister Deputy Chief Minister respectively on May 23.Parameshwara was Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President. One of the causes for the delay in expanding the ministry is attributed to uncertainty within the Congress over induction of strong Vokkaliga leader and former Power Minister D K Shivakumar. He is reportedly facing some ED cases.NDTV had quoted sources close him claiming that Shivakumar wanted to be Deputy Chief Minister .After a meeting with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi; he has agreed to settle for two ministries. Shivakumar is likely to take lied charge of the irrigation ministry, with medical education as the second portfolio. Along with him K J George and Priyank Kharge, son of Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge , are also the ministry. Names were finalized at a meeting between the Congress president Rahul Gandhi and senior Karnataka leaders on Tuesday. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his party Janata Dal Secular are against a second Deputy Chief Minister after G Parameshwara of the Congress has been sworn in as Deputy CM.Shivakumar, a seven-time lawmaker the powerful Vokkaliga caste, was told that it would be difficult to get the second Deputy Chief Ministerial post since the Chief Minister is also a Vokkaliga. There was speculation that Shivakumar could be compensated by anointing him as the Karnataka Congress President .Eventually, Congress will have 22 ministers in the 33-member cabinet. Major portfolios of finance, excise and transport will go to the JD(S). Even Shivakumar’s previous power portfolio has gone to the ally JD(S). The Congress gets home, industries and revenue among other portfolios.For the Congress, which failed to win the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, it has been a tough balancing act driven by the bigger considerations the 2019 general election and a strong coalition to beat the BJP in southern State. Karnataka has come as morale booster for non-NDA parties who turned Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony into a show of unity against the BJP.BJP, which has increased its strength from 40 to 104 in the 224 –Member State Legislative Assembly, has decided to play the role of a responsible opposition led by B S Yedurappa , the state’s strongest Lingayat leader.