Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar was sworn in as the state's 34th Chief Minister on Wednesday, June 3 at the Glass House of Lok Bhavan in Bengaluru. His ascension as CM comes after months of speculation regarding a secret power-sharing agreement between him and Siddaramaiah.
Shivakumar took the oath in the name of Gangadhara Ajjayya, the late seer associated with Sri Kadasiddeshwara Mutt in Nonavinakere.
Thirteen legislators were sworn in as ministers alongside him.
G Parameshwara, who represents Koratagere constituency in Tumakuru and was the Home Minister in the Siddaramaiah government, has been elevated to Deputy Chief Minister. This will be his second stint, as he had also served as DCM for about 14 months during the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in 2018-19.
While Parameshwara took oath in the name of BR Ambedkar, MB Patil took his oath in the name of Basavanna and Siddeshwara Mahaswami and Eshwar Khandre in the names of god and Channabasava Pattadevaru, a revered Lingayat seer from the Hiremath Samsthana in Bhalki.
KJ George and Yathindra Siddaramaiah took oath in the name of the Constitution, while KH Muniyappa, UT Khader, Byrathi Suresh, Sharanprakash Patil took oath in the name of god.
Satish Jarkiholi, Ramalinga Reddy, Krishna Byre Gowda, and Priyank Kharge were also sworn in.
The Cabinet now has three Vokkaliga ministers, including DK Shivakumar, three Lingayat, three Dalit, two Kuruba and one each from the Valmiki-Naika, Muslim and Christian communities.
In notable omissions, Dinesh Gundu Rao, who had the health portfolio, HK Patil, who was the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, and BZ Zameer Ahmed, who faces serious accusations of sabotaging the party during the recent bye-poll, have been dropped from the cabinet.
The swearing-in was attended by senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, Kerala CM VD Satheesan, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Randeep Singh Surjewala and AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal, Assam state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi and Karnataka Chief Justice Vibhu Bakru.
Actors Dhruva Sarja, Shivarajkumar and his wife Geetha Shivarajkumar, Ramya, and Dalli Dhananjay, playback singer and composer Guru Kiran, DK Shivakumar’s friend and actor Sihi Kahi Chandru, cricketer Anil Kumble and Jaimala were also present. In addition, there was a considerable presence of seers who had been invited to the event.
The transition followed days of hectic consultations within the Congress high command after the date of swearing in was decided. On June 2, the Congress appointed Siddaramaiah to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making body.
The swearing-in marks the culmination of a power-sharing arrangement that had been the subject of political speculation since the party's victory in 2023 with a strength of 135 MLAs, which no single party has managed in recent years. Siddaramaiah, who stayed on for three years in his second term as Chief Minister, managed the feat of becoming the longest-serving CM of Karnataka. His resignation came after the Congress high command convinced him to step down and make way for Shivakumar.
Earlier in the day, Shivakumar met former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa as well as his political bête noire, the former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and sought their blessings.
An eight-time MLA, Shivakumar, who was the Deputy Chief Minister in the Siddaramaiah government, has taken over with less than two years remaining before the 2028 Assembly elections. His elevation follows a political career spanning more than four decades, during which he rose from a student leader in the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) to become one of the Congress party's most prominent leaders in Karnataka.
Born on May 15, 1962, in Doddalahalli village in Kanakapura taluk, Shivakumar entered the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1989.
He represented the Sathanur constituency four times until 2008, when the constituency became defunct after delimitation. He then contested and won the Kanakapura Assembly seat four times.
Over the years, Shivakumar has held several ministerial positions in successive Congress governments, including Prisons and Home Guards, Cooperation, Urban Development, Energy, Major Irrigation, Medical Education, Water Resources and Bengaluru Development.
Shivakumar was appointed KPCC president in March 2020 after the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. During his tenure, the party undertook a statewide membership drive, organised campaigns on issues ranging from price rise to alleged corruption, and played a major role in coordinating Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra through Karnataka.
Under his leadership, the Congress returned to power in the 2023 Assembly elections, winning 135 seats. Following the victory, Siddaramaiah was chosen as Chief Minister, while Shivakumar became Deputy Chief Minister and was entrusted with the Water Resources and Bengaluru Development portfolios.
As Deputy Chief Minister, he oversaw the implementation of several infrastructure and water supply projects, including the Cauvery Phase V drinking water project for Bengaluru and surrounding areas. He also spearheaded the state government's "Brand Bengaluru" initiative, which includes proposals for major mobility and urban infrastructure projects. His proposed tunnel road projects, ostensibly aimed at reducing traffic congestion, have been met with much public opposition.
His political career has also been marked by legal challenges. In 2019, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case and spent 50 days in jail.