JD(S) MLAs HD Revanna, GT Deve Gowda, Bandeppa Kashempur, MC Manugul, Gubbi Sreenivas, Venkatrao Nadagouda, SR Mahesh and DC Thamanna have been sworn-in. The lone BSP MLA, N Mahesh has also been sworn-in. The portfolios are yet to be distributed.
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Karnataka Cabinet Expansion: 15 Congress MLAs, 8 JD(S) and 1 BSP Legislator Take Oath
Ahead of the Cabinet expansion, speculations were rife of Congress strongman DK Shivakumar being awarded with the maximum portfolios.
06 Jun, 14:43 (IST)
Congress MLAs UT Khader, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, Puttaranga Shetty, Jayamala, R Shankar, Shivananda Patil, Venkataramanappa and Rajashekar Patil have been sworn-in, taking the total of strength of the party in the State Cabinet to 15.
06 Jun, 14:40 (IST)
Congress veterans RV Deshpande and K J George have taken oath as Ministers. The party's young faces - Priyank Kharge and Krishna Byre Gowda have also taken the oath to Office.
06 Jun, 14:37 (IST)
Senior Congress leader and Kanakapura MLA, DK Shivakumar has been sworn-in as the Cabinet Minister. In the erstwhile Siddaramaiah-led government, he had served as the Energy Minister. The portfolios allotted to Shivakumar have not been reported yet.
06 Jun, 14:34 (IST)
The oath-taking ceremony has begun at Karnataka Raj Bhavan. Around 15 MLAs from the Congress and 8-9 from the JD(S) are likely to be sworn-in.
06 Jun, 14:22 (IST)
Among the Ministries which are to be allocated to the Congress include the crucial Home, Irrigation and Bengaluru Development. The Ministries of Sugar, Health, Industry and Revenue, along with Urban and Rural Development Departments will be allotted to the senior alliance partner.
06 Jun, 14:14 (IST)
A wave of Congress and JD(S) leaders have arrived at Raj Bhawan to witness the oath-taking ceremony. The maximum supporters were of Congress MLA DK Shivakumar, who is credited for keeping the party flock together after May 15. A fractured mandate in the state had fuelled the alleged attempts of horse trading.
06 Jun, 14:10 (IST)
The much-awaited oath-taking ceremony was scheduled to begin at 2:12 pm. Stay tuned here for the updates. As per reports emerging ahead of the swearing-in event, 15 MLAs of the Congress will be inducted into the government, along with 7 MLAs of the JD(S). The lone BSP MLA has also been accomodated.
Bengaluru, June 6: The anticipated expansion of Karnataka Cabinet, featuring Ministers from the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), was scheduled to begin at 2:12 pm. As per the pact agreed to by the two coalition partners, 15 ministerial berths will be kept by the Congress, whereas, 8 would be held by the JD(S). The government will also accommodate the lone BSP MLA in the Cabinet. Stay tuned above for the live updates.
Ahead of the Cabinet expansion, speculations were rife of Congress strongman DK Shivakumar being awarded with the maximum portfolios. The Kanakapura MLA is credited for keeping the party flock together after Karnataka gave a fractured mandate on May 15.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA H K Patil has signalled his rebellion with the party leadership for not including him in the Cabinet. Patil, who served as the Panchayati Raj Minister in the erstwhile Siddaramaiah government, demonstrated a show of strength in Bengaluru where his supporters protested outside the Congress office.
Congress-JD(S) Coalition Government
Although the two parties fought a bitter political battle against each other, the fractured mandate on May 15 compelled the Congress and JD(S) to join hands in a bid to keep the BJP out of power.
The BJP, which had emerged as the single-largest party with 104 seats, fall short of the majority mark by 8 legislators. Despite lacking the numbers, BS Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the Chief Minister on May 17. His government, however, could survive for only two days as he had to submit his resignation on failing to probe the majority in the House.
Subsequently, Kumaraswamy took oath as CM and proved his strength in the floor test held on May 26. The 58-year-old, son of ex-PM HD Deve Gowda, was supported by 37 legislators of his own party, along with 78 MLAs of Congress and 1 from BSP.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 06, 2018 02:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).