DK Shivakumar Takes Oath as Karnataka’s 25th CM, 14 Ministers Join Cabinet, Parameshwara Named Dy CM

The wait that defined a political career finally ended on Wednesday. D K Shivakumar , the 64-year-old Congress strongman from Kanakapura who spent four decades in the trenches of Karnataka politics, surviving electoral defeats, income tax raids, fifty days in Tihar Jail , and years of playing second fiddle, was sworn in as Karnataka's 25th Chief Minister at Lok Bhavan, Bengaluru , completing one of the most prolonged and closely watched leadership transitions in the state's political history.

Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office and secrecy to Shivakumar at 4.05 pm at Lok Bhavan's Glass House, with the ceremony attended by a galaxy of senior political figures. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi , AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge , outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah , AICC General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala , and Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states including Telangana's Revanth Reddy , Kerala's V D Satheesan , and Himachal Pradesh's Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu were all present. Religious leaders from all major communities, including heads of various influential maths, alongside students, farmers' representatives, sanitation workers, Dalit organisation leaders, and Kannada activists, also attended the high-profile event. Shivakumar took the oath holding a copy of the Constitution, invoking the name of his revered spiritual guide, Veera Gangadhara Ajja .

Fourteen ministers were sworn in alongside the new Chief Minister. Senior Dalit Congress leader G Parameshwara , who served as Home Minister in the outgoing Siddaramaiah government and previously held the Deputy Chief Minister's post in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government under H D Kumaraswamy , was designated Deputy Chief Minister, a choice that reflects both the party's emphasis on Dalit representation and the need to balance the powerful Vokkaliga identity of the Chief Minister. The other ministers who took oath were K H Muniyappa, K J George, M B Patil, Ramalinga Reddy, Satish Jarkiholi, Krishna Byregowda, Priyank Kharge, U T Khader, Eshwar Khandre, Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Byrathi Suresh, and Sharan Prakash Patil . Top party sources described the new cabinet as a deliberate blend of experience and youth, drawn from confidants of both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, ensuring that the transition does not alienate any significant faction within the state unit.

Eleven of the thirteen inducted ministers were part of the previous Siddaramaiah government, signalling strong administrative continuity. The two new faces are former Legislative Assembly Speaker U T Khader , who resigned his constitutional post to join the ministry, and Yathindra Siddaramaiah , the outgoing Chief Minister's son and Member of the Legislative Council, whose induction has drawn significant political attention. Yathindra is the only MLC in the new cabinet; all other ministers are MLAs. In terms of caste and community balance, the cabinet includes three ministers each from the Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities, an equal number of Dalit ministers, two from the Kuruba community to which Siddaramaiah belongs, and one minister each from the ST, Christian, and Muslim communities. Bengaluru Urban leads district-wise with four ministerial berths.

However, the first phase of cabinet formation has not been without criticism. The complete absence of women ministers has drawn sharp reactions, with political observers calling it a glaring omission for a party that has consistently championed gender representation. Congress insiders suggest women leaders are likely to be accommodated in the next phase of expansion, as the sanctioned cabinet strength of 34, including the Chief Minister, leaves considerable room.

In a significant parallel development, outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was on Wednesday appointed as a member of the Congress Working Committee , the party's highest decision-making body, a move widely seen as the high command's way of honouring his contribution and keeping him firmly within the party's central power structure. Reports also indicate that under the reported arrangement between the two leaders, Siddaramaiah may continue to reside at the Cauvery bungalow , traditionally reserved for the sitting Chief Minister, until 2028, while Shivakumar initially operates from alternate accommodation.

The transition itself was set in motion on May 28, when Siddaramaiah formally submitted his resignation on the directions of the Congress high command , handing his letter to the Governor's Special Secretary at Lok Bhavan since the Governor was out of station. In a moment that encapsulated the carefully managed optics of the handover, Shivakumar touched Siddaramaiah's feet seeking his blessings before the two shared a warm embrace, a gesture aimed at countering any narrative of internal discord. Shivakumar was subsequently elected as leader of the Congress Legislature Party on May 30.

For Shivakumar, popularly known as "Kanakapura Bande" , the Rock of Kanakapura, Wednesday's ceremony was the culmination of a journey that began with a defeat against former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in 1985, followed by eight consecutive Assembly victories, his role as the Congress's most dependable crisis manager, and his singular act of housing 42 Gujarat Congress MLAs in Bengaluru in 2017 to secure Ahmed Patel's Rajya Sabha seat. He rebuilt a shattered Karnataka Congress after the 2019 Lok Sabha debacle, steered it to a sweeping 134-seat victory in 2023, and helped improve the party's Lok Sabha tally in the state from one seat to nine in 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Shivakumar on assuming office, with the Centre signalling its willingness to cooperate with the new state government.

With the next Karnataka Assembly elections due in 2028, Shivakumar now shoulders the responsibility of consolidating the Congress's hard-won political ground, delivering on the party's ambitious guarantee schemes, and steering the state through its next phase of governance. The queue, at last, has ended. The chair is his.