CM Shivakumar keeps Finance as Karnataka ministers get portfolios

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday allocated portfolios to his Council of Ministers, retaining several key departments, including Finance, Cabinet Affairs, Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Intelligence and Information. The allocation comes following the recent expansion of the Karnataka Cabinet and ahead of the monsoon session of the State legislature beginning Thursday.

Shivakumar retains key portfolios

Besides Finance, Shivakumar has kept Cabinet Affairs, Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Intelligence, Information, Law, Justice and Human Rights, Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation. He will also handle Agriculture Marketing and several portfolios related to urban development, according to the allocation. The decision leaves the Chief Minister directly in charge of some of the most important administrative and financial departments of the State government.

Zameer gets Housing

B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan has been allocated the Housing portfolio, while K H Muniyappa has been given charge of Social Welfare.

U T Khader will handle Minority Welfare, Haj and Waqf along with Health and Family Welfare, while M B Patil has been assigned Commerce and Industries.

Senior leader Ramalinga Reddy has been given Forest, Ecology and Environment, while Lakshman Savadi will handle Co-operation, excluding Agriculture Marketing.

Madhu Bangarappa has been assigned Primary and Secondary Education, while Basavaraj Rayareddy will take charge of Higher Education.

Santosh Lad has been allocated Labour and Employment.

Portfolios allocated after Cabinet expansion

The distribution of responsibilities follows the recent expansion of Shivakumar's Cabinet, in which several ministers were inducted into the government.

The portfolio exercise had attracted attention following discussions within the Congress leadership over the distribution of departments. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala had discussed the issue ahead of the announcement.

The allocation also comes at a politically significant time, with the government preparing for the legislature's monsoon session.

The new assignments establish the administrative responsibilities of the expanded ministry as Shivakumar seeks to consolidate his government and manage key legislative and governance priorities.