DKS Cabinet Gives Prominence to North Karnataka, Includes Coastal Karnataka Voice
3 Jun 2026 6:55 PM IST3 Jun 2026 6:55 PM IST
With five ministers from North Karnataka, including three Lingayat leaders, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s first Cabinet signals a strategic regional and community balancing act while retaining experienced faces from previous Congress governments.
Dr Geetha Khandre congratulates Eshwar B Khandre by offering him sweets ahead of his swearing-in as a minister. (Source: By arrangement)
Mangaluru: Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s first Cabinet reflects a careful balancing of regional and community interests, particularly in North Karnataka, a region that has often influenced the electoral outcome in Karnataka.
Of the 13 ministers inducted into the Cabinet, five are from North Karnataka and one from Coastal Karnataka, while the remaining members represent the Old Mysuru region. Significantly, three of the six ministers from North Karnataka belong to the politically influential Lingayat community, underlining the Congress leadership’s effort to retain and expand its support base among Lingayats.
The North Karnataka team comprises MB Patil and Satish Jarkiholi from the Kittur Karnataka region, and Eshwar Khandre, Dr Sharanprakash Patil and Priyank Kharge from Kalyana Karnataka. UT Khader is the representative from Coastal Karnataka. Barring Khader, who served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 2023-2026, all the ministers were members of the Siddaramaiah Cabinet formed in 2023.
Among them, MB Patil emerges as the senior-most Lingayat face from North Karnataka. The legislator from Vijayapura district (elected initially from Tikota and later from Babaleshwar), now in his fifth term, has handled key portfolios in successive Congress governments. After serving as Water Resources Minister in Siddaramaiah’s first government and later as Home Minister in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government, Patil headed the Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development Department in the outgoing Cabinet.
Another heavyweight from the region is Satish Jarkiholi, a prominent Scheduled Tribe leader from Belagavi district.
Jarkiholi, a four-time MLA from Yemkanmardi, had earlier served as a Member of the Legislative Council when he was the Minister of State for Textiles in the Congress-JD(S) government of 2004-05. He later handled the Excise portfolio in Siddaramaiah's first government and served as Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. In the outgoing Siddaramaiah government, he headed the Public Works Department. He is regarded as one of the party’s most influential leaders in the Kittur Karnataka belt.
Priyank Kharge, a three-time MLA from Chittapur and son of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, continues to be one of the prominent faces of the party in Kalyana Karnataka. Having earlier handled IT-BT, Tourism in Siddaramaiah’s first cabinet and Social Welfare portfolio in the coalition government, he was entrusted with Rural Development and Panchayat Raj along with IT-BT in the Siddaramaiah government formed in 2023.
Eshwar Khandre, the four-time MLA from Bhalki, is another senior Lingayat leader from the region. A former KPCC working president, Khandre handled Municipal Administration in Siddaramaiah’s first government and was Forest Minister in the outgoing Cabinet.
Dr Sharanprakash Patil, a four-time MLA from Sedam, has emerged as one of the Congress party’s key leaders in Kalaburagi district. He held the Medical Education portfolio in both Siddaramaiah governments and additionally oversaw Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in the previous administration.
The inclusion of UT Khader gives Coastal Karnataka representation in the Cabinet. The five-time MLA from Mangaluru, who belongs to the Beary Muslim community, has previously handled Health, Food and Civil Supplies in the Siddaramaiah government. In the later coalition government, he served as the Urban Development and Housing Minister. After the Congress returned to power in 2023, Khader was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
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