When Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar expanded his Cabinet on Monday (August 3), the focus was expected to be on the delicate balancing act between caste equations, regional representation and factional interests within the Congress. Instead, one striking omission overshadowed the swearing-in ceremony at Bengaluru’s Lok Bhavan. Not a single woman found a place in the 33-member Council of Ministers in Karnataka.
The irony is hard to miss. The Congress, which has built much of its electoral success in Karnataka on women-centric welfare schemes such as Gruha Lakshmi and Shakti, now finds itself defending an all-male cabinet.
The development has also handed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a ready-made political weapon, particularly at a time when the ruling NDA at the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to champion women’s political representation through the Women’s Reservation law.
LAST-MINUTE EXCLUSION OF WOMAN MLC FROM CABINET LIST
The Congress high command approved a list of 20 names for the first expansion of the DKS government’s ministry. But only 19 ministers were eventually administered the oath of office by the Governor of Karnataka, Thawarchand Gehlot.
The biggest surprise was the absence of MLC Gayathri Shanthegowda, the lone woman on the Congress high command’s approved list. While party leaders attributed the change to “technical issues”, CM Shivakumar assured that a woman minister would be inducted later.
Another last-minute alteration saw Bhatkal MLA Mankal S Vaidya replaced by Davangere North MLA SS Mallikarjun, reportedly due to a “typographical error” and subsequent political accommodation.
The result, however, was unprecedented. The expanded cabinet reached the constitutional ceiling of 33 members, including the Chief Minister, but without a single woman minister.
The previous cabinet under Siddaramaiah included at least one woman, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, who handled the Women and Child Development portfolio. She, too, was dropped during the present reshuffle.
HOW HAS CONGRESS DISTRIBUTED TICKETS TO WOMEN IN KARNATAKA
The absence of women in the council of ministers also reflects a larger trend within Karnataka politics. Neither the Congress nor the BJP has consistently fielded women candidates in significant numbers.
In the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, the Congress gave tickets to 11 women, of whom four won. Those included Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Roopakala M, Nayana Motamma and Kaneez Fatima.
There are 224 seats in the Karnataka legislative Assembly.
The BJP, in the 2023 polls, fielded 12 women, with three — Shashikala Annasaheb Jolle, Bhagirathi Murulya and Manjula S — emerging victorious.
The number of women given tickets has remained consistently low across election cycles in Karnataka.
In 2018, the Congress fielded 15 women candidates, four of whom won. The BJP gave tickets to just six women, with three victories.
Even in 2023, despite women voters playing a decisive role in Karnataka’s elections, women candidates accounted for barely 5% to 7% of the nominees fielded by the two principal parties.
According to Axis My India’s exit poll after the 2023 election voting in Karnataka, the survey revealed that around 44% of women voted for the Congress. The ECI revealed that 72.7% of women voted during the Karnataka Assembly polls.
The Assembly itself currently has only 10 women MLAs out of 224 members, its highest tally in recent years, yet still below 5%.
WHY DID DKS MINISTRY EXCLUDE EVEN GAYATHRI SHANTHEGOWDA?
The controversy is not only about gender representation. Gayathri Shanthegowda’s proposed induction carried significant political symbolism in Karnataka.
Shanthegowda was recently elected as an MLC after a prolonged legal battle. She belongs to the Kuruba community, the same community as former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Her inclusion was widely viewed as an attempt by the Congress high command to reassure Siddaramaiah’s camp while also providing the cabinet with its lone woman minister.
Instead, she was dropped at the final moment. According to local news reports, the exclusion of Shantegowda was a result of intense factional negotiations between supporters of Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, along with competing claims over the lone available berth.
Reports on Monday revealed that the supporters of former minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar lobbied against replacing her.
The optics became even more striking when Siddaramaiah himself skipped the swearing-in ceremony, fuelling speculation about continuing tensions within the Congress. Dissatisfaction also spilled onto the streets, with some legislators protesting portfolio allocations and others threatening resignation.
HOW CONGRESS STATE UNIT’S DECISION HAS EMBARRASSED PARTY HIGH COMMAND
The Congress’s predicament comes at an awkward political moment.
During the Special Session of Parliament in April, the BJP-led NDA aggressively pushed the delimitation proposal while repeatedly highlighting its commitment to implementing the Women’s Reservation law, which provides for 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures once delimitation is completed.
While the implementation timeline remains contested, the BJP has consistently sought to portray itself as expanding women’s political participation.
The Congress, meanwhile, is now facing questions over why a government that runs flagship welfare programmes for women could not accommodate even one woman in the Karnataka ministry. Women voters played a key role in the Congress coming to power in the state.
The BJP has already begun drawing that contrast, arguing that the Congress’s commitment to women ends with welfare schemes while political power remains concentrated among male leaders.
That criticism is likely to resonate because Karnataka’s women voters have emerged as one of the most influential electoral blocs in recent elections. The Congress itself credited women beneficiaries of Gruha Lakshmi, Shakti and other guarantees for its sweeping victory in 2023.
– Ends
Published By:
Avinash Kateel
Published On:
Aug 4, 2026 13:32 IST
