Karnataka to get 7 new ministers as HDK-led coalition govt set for first cabinet expansion

Bengaluru, Sept 4: Karnataka is likely to get seven new ministers, while 30 legislators of the Congress and the JD (S) will be adjusted as chairmen of top corporations and boards in the state, according to party leaders.

The Karnataka state cabinet will be expanded by the third week of September to its full strength of 34, with the addition of seven new ministers, JDS Secretary general Danish Ali said.

“While there will be six new faces from the Congress in the cabinet, one of the JDS legislators will also get a ministerial berth.

“Besides, 30 new legislators, including 10 from the JDS, would be adjusted as chairmen of key boards and corporations in the state,” Ali, who is also the convener of the coordination committee, told PTI.

The Karnataka cabinet currently has a strength of 27, including 11 from the JDS and 16 from Congress.

Sources said that after completion of 100 days of the government, resentment was brewing among the legislators over ministerial berths and other key posts in the state that are still vacant.

There has been talk of cabinet expansion for many days but the issue was resolved after a meeting of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi last week.

The cabinet expansion and naming of the chairmen of boards and corporations will take place simultaneously in the third week of September, Siddaramaiah has said after the coordination committee's third meeting since the formation of the coalition government.

The delay has fuelled dissent among senior leaders of both the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), who failed to get a ministerial berth earlier.

This will be the first cabinet expansion of the coalition state government.

The vacancies in other boards and corporations would be filled later, Ali said. There are a total of 94 boards and corporations in the state.

Meanwhile, the sources also said that three leaders would be nominated to the legislative council after vacancies had arisen as some members were elected to the state assembly.

Besides, a nomination of an Anglo-Indian member is also to be made in the state legislative council.

The sources said the Congress is likely to bag two of the three nominations to the legislative council.