BENGALURU: Along with newly sworn-in Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar, eight Cabinet Ministers took oath on Saturday.
Following is a brief background of the new cabinet ministers:
- Headed Congress' manifesto committee ahead of this Assembly election
- Belongs to SC-Right community, represents Koratagere constituency in Tumakuru district
- Former Deputy Chief Minister during Congress-JD(S) coalition government led by H D Kumaraswamy.
- Minister with various key portfolios including Home, Higher Education among others in earlier governments
- Longest-serving Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief for eight years
- Open about aspiration for CM and Deputy CM post *Six-time MLA -- three times each from Madhugiri and Koratagere
- Has a PhD in plant physiology from the Waite Agriculture Research Centre of the University of Adelaide
- Congress leader from SC-Left, represents Devanahalli Assembly segment in Bengaluru Rural district.
- Seven-time Member of Lok Sabha representing Kolar from 1991 to 2019
- Former Union Minister
- Elected for the first time to Legislative Assembly.
- Daughter Roopakala M Shashidhar is MLA from Kolar Gold Fields (KGF)
- Christian face of Congress, represents the Sarvagnanagar Assembly segment in Bengaluru city.
- Six-time MLA.
- Considered close to CM Siddaramaiah.
- Has served as Minister for Home, Bengaluru Development and Town Planning among other portfolios in the past
- Born in Kerala, his family moved to Kodagu when he was very young.
- Considered a prominent face of Congress from the dominant Lingayat community
- President of BLDEA (Bijapur Lingayat Education Association), a leading education organisation in the north Karnataka region
- Congress' campaign committee President ahead of this election
- Represents Babaleshwar Assembly constituency in Vijayapura district
- Five-time MLA
- Had been Minister for Home and Water Resources in previous governments
- Had served as a Member of Parliament from Bijapur (Vijayapura)
- From Valmiki community, which comes under STs
- Represents Yamakanmardi Assembly constituency in Belagavi district
- Karnataka Congress Working President
- Four-time MLA, twice MLC *Was with JD(S) earlier
- His brothers Ramesh Jarkiholi and Balachandra Jarkiholi are BJP MLAs from Gokak and Arabhavi legislative constituencies respectively.
- Had served as Minister for Excise and Textile in the past
- Popular for his anti-superstition stand
- Founder-chairman of sugar manufacturing firm Satish Sugars
- Son of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge
- Member of Dalit community under SC-Right, represents Chittapur segment in Kalaburagi district
- He is Chairman - Communications of Karnataka Congress
- Three-time MLA
- Had served as Minister for IT, BT, Tourism and Social Welfare in the past
- Associated with Youth Congress
- Belongs to the Reddy community, represents BTM Layout in Bengaluru city
- Considered among Congress' faces for the city.Has earlier been in charge of the city
- Karnataka Congress Working President
- Eight-time MLA
- Served as Minister of Home, Transport, Education and other key portfolios in the past
- Was associated with Congress' student's wing for a long time
8. B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan:
- Prominent Muslim leader in Congress represents Chamrajpet Assembly segment in Bengaluru city.
- Five-time MLA
- Had served as Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Hajj and Waqf
- Earlier with JD(S).