K'taka Cabinet expansion: 20 ministers to inducted, swearing-in on Monday

BENGALURU: Two months after assuming charge as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, D K Shivakumar, will be expanding his Cabinet by appointing 20 ministers, official sources said on Monday.

The swearing-in of the new ministers will take place at Lok Bhavan here by 4:05 pm on Monday, the Chief Minister's office said.

The 20 names that have been approved by the Congress high command are: P M Narendraswamy, Shivaraj Tangadagi, Rudrappa Lamani, K S Basavanthappa, B Nagendra, T Raghumoourthy, B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, Rizwan Arshad, Santosh Lad, Madhu Bangarappa, Putturangashetty, Mankala Vaidya, Ajay Singh, N Chaluvaraya Swamy, K M Shivalinge Gowda, H C Balakrishna, Gayathri Shanthegowda, Basvaraj Rayareddi, Vijayanand Kashappanavar and Laxman Savadi.

AICC general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal has sent a communication to Shivakumar about the Congress high command approving 20 names to be inducted into the Cabinet.

The Congress high command has also approved the names G S Patil to be the new Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly and A S Ponnanna to be Deputy Speaker.

The party has named Saleem Ahmed to be the new Chairman of state Legislative Council, and Umashree as the Deputy Chairperson.

Shivakumar was sworn-in as the chief minister along with 13 ministers on June 3, following Siddaramaiah's resignation as CM on May 28.

The sanctioned strength of Karnataka's ministry is 34, including the CM.