New Delhi: Congress leader DK Shivakumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Wednesday. Along with him 13 ministers were also sworn-in to the Cabinet.
The decision of names regarding who will be part of the Cabinet, was reportedly taken after taking into consideration the political, social and caste equations in the state.
However, despite trying to accommodate all castes and communities in the state, one glaring gap in the Cabinet has not gone unnoticed. There are no women in Shivakumar’s newly formed Cabinet. And this fact has been pointed out by none other than, one of the Congress Party’s own veteran leaders and former Governor Margaret Alva.
‘Would have loved to see at least 1 woman minister’: Margaret Alva
The veteran Congress leader Margaret Alva pointing towards the omission of women from Shivakumar’s Cabinet said that she would have loved to see at least 1 woman minister.
In her post on social media platform, ‘X’, she said, “Congratulations to DK Shivakumar Ji on being sworn in as Karnataka CM. I wish him & his team success. I would have loved to have seen at least ONE Congress woman in the new Karnataka Cabinet that was sworn in. Deeply disappointed that there isn’t.”
The Congress party has 9 women legislators in the state, 4 MLAs and 5 MLCs, but none of them were sworn -in as Ministers in the newly formed Cabinet, which took oath on Wednesday, along with the CM.
The women Congress MLAs in the state are – Laxmi Hebbalkar, Roopkala Shashidhar, Nayana Motamma and Kaneez Fatima. The women MLAs of the Congress Party are, Gayathri Shanthegowda, Pushpa Amarnath, Bilkis Bano, Dr Arathi Krishna and Umashree. But none of them were part of the new Cabinet of DK Shivakumar, who took over as the CM after Siddaramaiah decided to step down, on the High Command’s instructions.
Two of the women members of the legislature, MLC Umahree and Laxmi Hebbalkar have been part of Cabinets earlier. They were being seen as strong contenders for the Cabinet posts this time too. But unfortunately they did not make the cut.
Hebbalkar was Minister of Women and Child Development in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet. However, it is not all over for the Women members of the Congress. A Cabinet expansion is planned for Karnataka in future. DK Shivakumar still has to fill 21 ministerial berths, as he can have upto 34 Ministers. It remains to be seen how many women Congress MLAs or MLCs make it to the new Cabinet, post the planned expansion.
