Women gave Karnataka to Congress, but DKS has no woman minister. Why?
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
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. Read Full Story 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.
The BriefWire