Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that the allocation of portfolios of newly sworn ministers will be done soon.
“A full-fledged cabinet has been formed in the state. Allocation of departments will be done today or tomorrow. Apart from the post of Chief Minister, 33 seats are Cabinet Ministers. The government has decided that the promise made by the people should be fulfilled which the opposition never did,” he said while talking to the reporters here.
Explaining the composition of the new Cabinet, the Chief Minister said that it is a mix of new and old faces.
He further informed that those who won for the first time were not made ministers.
“There was some dissatisfaction that the districts have not been given representation. This time we followed some standards. Many districts’ MLAs didn’t get the post of the minister who won for the first time. There were some resentments. There is solace in some frustrations,” he added.
Kodagu, Haveri, Hassan, Chikmagalur and other districts did not get representation and as per the CM, it was done following some certain criteria.
The Congress government in Karnataka was expanded on Saturday with 24 MLAs taking oath as ministers and the party seeking to give representation to various castes and groups.
The oath was administered by Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot at Raj Bhavan in Bangalore in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
The new cabinet has six members from the Vokkaliga community, eight Lingayats, four from the Scheduled Caste community, three scheduled tribes, two from the Muslim community and one from the Christian community. The Maratha and Brahmin community has also got representation.
Twenty-three MLAs took oath in Kannada while one took oath in English. While most MLAs took oath in the name of God, some took names of deities and revered figures.
With this cabinet expansion, the Congress government in Karnataka has reached the full strength of 34 ministers including the Chief Minister.
However, responding to the media’s question about Puttarangashetty not accepting the post of Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister said that there will always be a sense of satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
“There is also relief in discontent. I spoke to them last night and clarified that he agreed,” he added.
This report is filed by ANI news service.
