Twenty-nine Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Wednesday took oath as ministers in Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s Cabinet. The BJP high command has decided not to appoint a deputy chief minister in Karnataka this time, The Indian Express reported.
The ceremony was held at the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru. Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot administered the oath to the new ministers.
One woman minister, seven ministers from Other Backward Classes, three from Scheduled Castes, one from Scheduled Tribes, seven from the Vokkaliga community, eight from the Linagayat caste and one from the Reddy community are among the members of the new Cabinet.
Kota Srinivas Poojary, Araga Jnanendra, Prabhu Chauhan, Murugesh Nirani, Shivaram Hebbar, ST Somashekar are among the new faces in the Cabinet, News18 reported. Shashikala Jolle is the only woman minister in Karnataka.
Bommai took oath as the chief minister of Karnataka on July 28, two days after his predecessor BS Yediyurappa resigned from the position. Bommai was the home minister in Yediyurappa’s Cabinet.
Bommai belongs to the Lingayat community, which reportedly forms about 17% of the state’s population, according to The Indian Express. The community is considered to be the main vote bank for the saffron party.
The Lingayats were reportedly not in favour of Yeddiyurappa’s removal, therefore it was expected that the BJP would choose a member for the chief ministerial post from the community.
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