Karnataka cabinet expansion: 24 MLAs to take oath as ministers today

The Karnataka government can have 34 ministers

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ ITDC NEWS : A week after assuming power in Karnataka, the Congress on Friday released a list of 24 legislators who will be sworn in as ministers on May 27, according to party leaders.

The Karnataka government can have 34 ministers. Ten of them, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D.K. Shivakumar, were sworn in on May 20.

MLAs H.K. Patil, Krishna Byregowda, N. Cheluvarayaswamy, K. Venkatesh, H.C. Mahadevappa, Congress working president Eshwar Khandre and former state Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao are among those who will take oath on Saturday.

Others on the list are Kyathasandra N. Rajanna, Sharanabasappa Darshanapur, Shivanand Patil, Ramappa Balappa Timmapur, S.S. Mallikarjun, Shivaraj Sangappa Tangadagi, Sharanaprakash Rudrappa Patil, Mankal Vaidya, Laxmi Hebbalkar, Rahim Khan, D. Sudhakar, Santosh Lad, N.S. Boseraju, Suresha B.S., Madhu Bangarappa, M.C. Sudhakar and B. Nagendra.

Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Madhu Bangarappa, D. Sudhakar, Cheluvaraya Swami, Mankul Vaidya and M.C. Sudhakar are close to Shivakumar, according to Congress sources.

The Congress's list figures names of six Lingayats and four Vokkaligas.

Three MLAs are from Scheduled Castes, two from Scheduled Tribes and five from Other Backward Communities - Kuruba, Raju, Maratha, Ediga and Mogaveera.

In Dinesh Gundu Rao, Brahmins have also got representation in the cabinet.