Now Reading: Karnataka’s new 19-member cabinet has no women
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Karnataka’s new 19-member cabinet has no women
The New Indian Express, in an editorial, examined Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's new 19-member cabinet, which has no women. Legislative Council member Gayathri Shanthegowda's name had been floated but was…
The New Indian Express, in an editorial, examined Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's new 19-member cabinet, which has no women. Legislative Council member Gayathri Shanthegowda's name had been floated but was left off the final list. Shivakumar said not every district could be represented and that hopefuls could still be accommodated as heads of boards and corporations. The cabinet draws on Lingayat, Scheduled Caste, Vokkaliga, Scheduled Tribe, Muslim and Kuruba representation, and includes the sons of three former chief ministers alongside returning ministers B Nagendra and Zameer Ahmed Khan. Two MLAs have resigned and others have voiced unhappiness. The editorial noted that Congress fielded 11 women candidates in the 2023 Assembly election, of whom four won, against the BJP's 12 candidates and three wins, and called the all-male line-up a failure of the party's professed commitment to women's representation, urging Shivakumar to induct a woman for the final vacant post.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The New Indian Express editorial reads the all-male cabinet against Congress's own record: a party that backed the Women's Reservation Bill and leaned on women voters to win Karnataka, yet fielded only 11 women candidates in 2023 to the BJP's 12. It argues portfolio allocation, not just cabinet entry, is the deeper problem, since women ministers are typically confined to lightweight briefs while charges like home, finance and revenue go to men. It records a minor rebellion, two MLAs resigning and a few others making their unhappiness clear, and says the Chief Minister has had to bow to compulsions ranging from dynasty affiliations to Greater Bengaluru Authority elections and Siddaramaiah's nominees. Whether Shivakumar fills the last vacant berth with a woman, as the editorial urges, will answer that criticism directly.
Source: www.newindianexpress.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
