DK Shivakumar, newly elected as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, is set to be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Wednesday evening. Following his election, Shivakumar traveled to Delhi to finalize the composition of his upcoming cabinet through high-level discussions with the Congress central leadership, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Party sources confirmed that a preliminary group of 10 ministers will take the oath of office alongside the Chief Minister during the initial phase of the cabinet formation.
The official swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday at 4:05 PM at the Lok Bhavan in Bengaluru, with prominent national leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge expected to attend. The initial intake will focus on a core list of ten confirmed names, which includes senior leaders and key party figures such as KJ George, G. Parameshwara, Ramalinga Reddy, Krishna Byre Gowda, UT Khader, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge (son of Mallikarjun Kharge), Yathindra (son of outgoing caretaker CM Siddaramaiah), and Lakshmi Hebbalkar. A full expansion of the cabinet to include more faces is anticipated within the next week to ten days as further names are scrutinized.
The cabinet formation process has highlighted typical internal party lobbying, particularly regarding regional representation, social equations, and the allocation of deputy chief minister positions. Outgoing caretaker Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reportedly been pushing for multiple deputy CM posts to accommodate his close loyalists from the AHINDA community, backing leaders like G. Parameshwara and MB Patil. However, DK Shivakumar has strongly opposed the creation of multiple deputy positions, arguing that establishing parallel power centers within the administration would only lead to unnecessary political friction and governance complications.
