At an event in Kanteerava stadium, Bengaluru attended by thousands of party workers, and supporters apart from party leaders and allies, a new Congress-led government was sworn in by Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot. Siddaramiah took oath as the Chief Minister for a second time having served as CM for a full five-year term between 2013 and 2018. D K Shivakumar took oath as the deputy CM.

Congress’s first family was represented by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi. Congress President Mallikarjuna Kharge, who hails from Karnataka, also participated in the event. All the Congress chief ministers of the country including Ashok Gehlot from Rajasthan, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of Himachal Pradesh, and Bhupesh Bhagel of Chattisgarh took part in the celebrations. Leaders of several opposition parties including Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, his deputy Tejaswi Yadav, Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar, actor Kamal Hassan and others too joined the jamboree.

Apart from Siddaramiah and DKS, eight cabinet ministers were also sworn in by the Governor T C Gehlot and their portfolios are yet to be announced. Here is a brief profile of each of the new cabinet ministers:

Dr G Parameshwara

A prominent Dalit face of the party in Karnataka, it was when he was leading the party as the KPCC President that Congress had won the 2013 assembly poll. But a surprise loss in his own Kortegere seat lead to Siddaramiah becoming the CM. Parameshwara’s father too was an old-time Congress loyalist and his family runs a clutch of educational institutions in Tumkur district.

He took oath in the name of Constitution. In the previous Congress administration of Siddaramiah, he had been the Deputy CM. However, he had a reputation for demanding that all traffic be stopped on routes where his convoy would travel leading to considerable inconveniences to public.

Also read: Karnataka elections 2023: What Gandhi’s rare win over Modi means for India’s vote in 2024

K H Muniyappa

75-year-old veteran SC leader of Congress is a seven-time parliamentarian who was MSME minister in Manmohan’s Singh UPA cabinet at the centre. In the 2019 parliamentary assembly he lost his traditional Kolar LS seat for the first time being swept away by the Modi wave. He has been elected to the assembly for the first time from Devanhalli constituency. His daughter Roopkala Sashidar also been relected as an legislator from KGF.

K G George

One of the prominent Christian politicians in the state, K G George has long been a permanent fixture in Congress ministries in the state. A close confidant of the Gandhi family, George has extensive business interests and was earlier the Home minister in the previous Siddaramiah administration. He had to step down from his role after a series of corruption allegations but has always manged to be in the good books of the party high command.

M B Patil

Mallanagouda Basanagouda Patil the only Lingayat in the current cabinet became a legislator at the young age of 26. His father B M Patil was an old-time Congress leader and education baron. Patil in the previous Siddaramiah administration had deftly handled the irrigation portfolio considered to be ‘lucrative’ by observers and analysts. However, he had been accused of trying to divide the dominant Ligayat community into Veerashivas and Lingayats as well as pushing for a separate religion status away from Hinduism.

Satish Jarkiholi

While his two brothers Ramesh and Balachandra have been elected on a BJP ticket and another brother Lakhan is an independent MLC, Satish right from his Janata Parivar days has hitched his star to Siddaramiah’s fortunes. He followed Siddu into Congress. Known for his strident anti-caste views he took oath in the name of Basava, Buddha and Ambedkar. He is known for hosting parties at alleged ‘inauspicious’ places like cemeteries and filing his nomination during ‘Rahul Kaal’ considered not a good time of the day by some.  

Also read: Karnataka’s newly-elected Assembly is the richest in the country

Priyank Kharge

Seen as one of the young turks and rising stars in the party, Priyank is the son of Congress President Mallikarjuna Kharge and retained his Chittapur seat for a third time. In his earlier stint under Siddaramiah in the previous Congress regime, he was the IT/BT Minister of the state.

Ramalinga Reddy

Belonging to the powerful land-owning Reddy community, Ramalinga Reddy in the past has been a home minister of the state and has been a legislator for 8 consecutive terms. His greatest disappointment was his daughter Sowmya Reddy who was a legislator earlier lost by a mere 16 votes in the Jayanagar constituency to her BJP opponent. Ramalinga Reddy has stayed loyal to the Congress inspite of past BJP moves to woo him.

B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan

The only minister to take oath in English in the name of Allah and his mother, Khan started his politics under the tutelage of Deve Gowda before falling out with Gowda’s son Kumaraswamy and shifting to Congress. He has always been in the eye of the storm for his controversial statements but is seen as a moneybag who can swing minority votes. Khan runs a successful transport and logistics company.

The new cabinet is expected to meet shortly and sign into law the five promises it made in its manifesto including 200 units of free electricity, free travel in state buses for women, unemployment allowance, free rice and other schemes.

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