Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, sworn in on June 3, 2026, has allocated portfolios to 19 ministers ahead of the monsoon Assembly session, ending days of suspense over his expanded cabinet. Key portfolios remain with Shivakumar, while Ramalinga Reddy, N Chaluvarayaswamy and Basavaraj Raya Reddy see major reshuffles. Several first-time ministers enter the cabinet, though no woman is included.
AFTER FORMER KARNATAKA CHIEF MINISTER SIDDARAMAIAH vacated the seat, ending the political leader's second term in the office, D K Shivakumar was sworn in as the state’s newest CM on June 3, 2026. With the Karnataka Legislative Assembly's monsoon session set to convene in a short few hours, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, allotted portfolios to 19 ministers in his cabinet, bringing an end to a days-long suspense over the distribution after the expansion of his cabinet.
The decision of the CM’s cabinet was taken after discussions with the Congress party’s high command. After senior Congress leader and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, gave his assent, the distribution of the portfolios was finalized.
D K Shivakumar holds key portfolios under his command, including — finance, cabinet affairs, personnel and administrative reforms, intelligence, information, law and justice, parliamentary affairs and legislation, agriculture marketing, town and country planning, and urban local bodies under the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA)
The Chief Minister will also hold all other unallocated portfolios until a concrete decision is taken.
Senior leader Ramalinga Reddy’s reallocation was the most notable change in this cabinet reshuffle. Reddy was initially assigned Major and Medium Irrigation in June 2026. He has now been reassigned to head the Forest, Ecology, and Environment Department, after a request to the CM for a portfolio change.
Consequently, N Chaluvarayaswamy, who previously served as Agriculture Minister in former CM Siddaramaiah’s cabinet, has now been assigned the Major and Minor Irrigation portfolio.
Basavaraj Raya Reddy has returned to the Higher Education portfolio, which he had previously handled during Siddaramaiah’s 2013–2018 tenure. Former Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who switched from the BJP to Congress ahead of the 2023 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, has been assigned the Cooperation portfolio. Veteran leaders K H Muniyappa (Social Welfare) and C S Puttaranga Shetty (Animal Husbandry and Sericulture) are also among the ministers who have retained or returned to portfolios they have previously handled.
CM Shivakumar’s cabinet includes a number of newly-inducted ministers, who will hold the rank of a cabinet minister for the first time. They are — Rizwan Arshad (Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs), Narendra Swamy (Agriculture), H C Balakrishna (Municipal Administration), K M Shivalingegowda (Excise), Dr Ajay Singh (Minor Irrigation; Science and Technology), T Raghumurthy (ST Welfare), K S Basavanthappa (Muzrai, Fisheries, Ports, and Inland Water Transport), Vijayanand Kashappanavar (Small Scale Industries and Public Enterprises), and Rudrappa Lamani (Sugar and Textiles).
Upon returning to Bengaluru on Monday, August 10, 2026, Shivakumar had remarked about his government's decision regarding a cabinet reshuffle and to induct a woman minister. However, the latest portfolio allocation does not show any woman being included in the ministry.
In a separate announcement, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar announced that A S Ponnanna, the Congress MLA from Virajpet Assembly constituency, will be appointed as political secretary to the Chief Minister, elevating him to the rank of a cabinet minister.
Earlier, Ponnanna was appointed as the nominee for Deputy Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly.
(Edited by Agniva Ray)
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