Seven new ministers take oath in Karnataka, size of Cabinet swells to 33

BENGALURU: Seven new ministers took oath on Wednesday at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru, taking the size of the Karnataka Cabinet to 33. However, their portfolios are yet to be announced.

MLCs MTB Nagaraj, R Shankar, CP Yogeshwar and senior MLAs Murugesh Nirani, Umesh Katti, Arvind Limbavali and Angara took oath.

Of the seven, except Angara, the other six served as ministers previously. With the swearing in, Bengaluru gets eight ministers and Belgavi district gets five ministers. 

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister had instructed Shankar to resign from the Excise Ministry, thus reserving one berth for Prathap Gouda Patil as the Maski bypoll is due. Prathap had resigned along with other Congress and JDS legislators and helped Yediyurappa form the government in 2019.

Rajarajeshwarinagar MLA Munirathna whose name was almost finalised has not been included. BJP sources said party leaders did not approve his name as he is still facing a fake voter ID case.