Congress leaders and workers celebrating the swearing-in of D. K. Shivakumar as the new Chief Minister, at the party office in Mysuru on Wednesday.
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While D.K. Shivakumar has fulfilled his long-cherished ambition of becoming the Chief Minister after a prolonged power tussle, the regional heavyweights in the previous Siddaramaiah-led dispensation and most of other ministerial hopefuls from Mysuru region will have to keep their fingers crossed for the next expansion.
Except for Yathindra Siddaramaiah, an MLC, Mysuru district — the native of the outgoing Chief Minister —and the surrounding districts of Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Kodagu have been left entirely unrepresented in Mr. Shivakumar’s maiden Cabinet, making the near exclusion of Old Mysuru region quite glaring.
Former Social Welfare Minister H.C. Mahadevappa, who served as the Minister-in-charge of Mysuru district, former Animal Husbandry and Sericulture Minister K. Venkatesh, and six-time MLA Tanveer Sait, all hailing from Mysuru district, were strong contenders for a ministerial berth.
The run-up to Mr. Shivakumar’s swearing-in on Wednesday also witnessed demonstrations by supporters of Mr. Mahadevappa and Mr. Sait, who took to the streets demanding not only a Cabinet berth for their leaders, but also the Deputy Chief Minister’s mantle as well.
Even though most of the senior Ministers in Mr. Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet managed to return to the new ministry, Mr. Mahadevappa and Mr. Venkatesh were not among them. The hopes of Mr. Sait, who was left out in Mr. Siddaramaiah’s second term, making a comeback to the ministry were also dashed.
Former Minister and Chamarajanagar MLA C. Puttarangashetty and Kollegal MLA A.R. Krishnamurthy from Chamarajanagar are also hoping for a ministerial role just like MLAs from Kodagu district — A.S. Ponnanna and Manthar Gowda.
Similarly, Mandya too has not been represented in the ministry. N. Cheluvarayaswamy, the Nagamangala MLA, who was the Minister for Agriculture and the Minister in-charge of Mandya district, too has not made the ministry in the first round.
Sources in the Congress party did not rule out the possibility of leaders from Mysuru joining the ministry in the next expansion. Mr. Sait, a six-time MLA, is widely expected to make the cut in the expansion.
Party sources were optimistic that caste and region-wise representations will be corrected in the next Cabinet expansion with room for almost 19 to 20 more in the ministry.
The next expansion, according to most Congress leaders here, is expected to come about only after the elections to Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council scheduled to be held on June 18.
Boards and corporations
A question mark also hangs on the continuation of the chairpersons of various boards and corporations.
In February this year, the government had issued orders extending the tenure of chairpersons nominated to various boards and corporations until further notice that allowed the incumbents to continue in their roles.
Published – June 03, 2026 09:42 pm IST
