Published Aug 08, 2026 | 9:42 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 08, 2026 | 9:42 AM
Nineteen MLAs sworn in as ministers on 3 August, taking the Council of Ministers to 33 members.
Synopsis: The expansion of the Karnataka Cabinet has brought eight first-time ministers into the Council of Ministers. The new names are a mix of veterans and new entrants from different parts of the state and communities. They include doctors, engineers and grassroots politicians, with declared assets ranging from ₹1.01 crore to ₹65.7 crore and criminal cases varying from none to multiple pending charges.
The long-awaited expansion of the Karnataka Cabinet on 3 August saw 19 MLAs sworn in as ministers, taking the Council of Ministers to 33 members, one short of its sanctioned strength, including Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
The new ministers include eight first-time entrants to the Cabinet, one of them a first-term MLA. The list is a mix of veterans with decades of political experience and relative newcomers, balancing regional and caste representation.
Here is a detailed profile of each first-time minister: their political career, declared assets, criminal cases, if any, and educational qualifications.
Dr Ajay Dharam Singh, 52, represents the Jewargi Assembly constituency in Kalaburagi district. The son of former Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh, he entered politics through the Youth Congress and served as general secretary of the Karnataka Youth Congress from 1999 to 2009.
Dr Ajay Singh
A medical graduate, Dr Singh completed his MBBS from MS Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore University, in 1998. He was first elected from Jewargi in 2013 and has retained the seat for three consecutive terms. During his time in the Assembly, he served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition between 2020 and 2022 and later headed the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board.
According to the affidavit he filed ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, Dr Singh declared assets worth ₹65.7 crore and liabilities of ₹37.8 crore.
He has one pending criminal case, registered at Siddapura Police Station in Bengaluru under Sections 427, 143, 147, 149, 188 and 290 of the IPC, Section 103 of the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.
KS Basavanthappa, 56, represents the reserved Mayakonda Assembly constituency in Davanagere district. He is the only first-term MLA to be inducted into the DK Shivakumar Cabinet.
KS Basavanthappa
Born in Davanagere in 1970, Basavanthappa is the third of five children of sanitation workers employed by the local municipality. He studied up to the first year of pre-university at ARG College, Davanagere, in 1987-88 before discontinuing his education. He later worked as a sanitation worker before taking up civic contracts.
Known locally as “Ambulance Basavanthappa” for personally helping residents during medical emergencies, he built a grassroots base before entering electoral politics through the Congress.
A prominent Madiga leader, he first served as a member of the Davanagere Zilla Panchayat from Anagodu. After losing the reserved Mayakonda seat in 2018, he won it in 2023 by 34 votes against an Independent candidate, one of the closest contests in the election.
He continues to live in a rented house in Davanagere despite becoming an MLA. His induction into the Cabinet marks a remarkable rise from the son of sanitation workers to a State minister.
According to his election affidavit, Basavanthappa declared assets worth ₹1.01 crore and liabilities of ₹3.25 lakh. He has no criminal cases.
HC Balakrishna represents the Magadi Assembly constituency in Bengaluru South district (previously Ramanagara).
The son of former Minister HG Channappa, he was first elected from Magadi in 1994 on a BJP ticket and has represented the constituency for five terms. After nearly two decades with the Janata Dal (Secular), he switched to the Congress ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections but lost the seat to JD(S) candidate A Manjunath. He was re-elected from the constituency in the 2023 Assembly elections by a margin of nearly 12,000 votes.
HC Balakrishna
A prominent Vokkaliga leader from the Old Mysuru region, he is a close aide of Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, with both hailing from the same district. He has also been among the most vocal defenders of Shivakumar’s pet project, the proposed Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township at Bidadi within his constituency.
According to his election affidavit, Balakrishna declared assets worth ₹35.5 crore and liabilities of ₹12.2 crore. He holds an MBBS degree from Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, obtained in 1991.
He has two pending criminal cases: CC No. 30762/2021 (Crime No. 19/2017) and CC No. 934/2018 (Crime No. 109/2018). The cases include charges under Sections 341, 353, 504, 506, 149 and 34 of the IPC, Section 171(E) of the Representation of the People Act, and Section 38(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act.
PM Narendraswamy, 63, represents the reserved Malavalli Assembly constituency in Mandya district. A civil engineer by training, he completed his BE in Civil Engineering from Dr Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, in 1994.
PM Narendraswamy
He entered electoral politics in 2008, winning the Malavalli seat as an Independent before joining the Congress. He retained the constituency in 2013, lost it to JD(S)’s K. Annadani in 2018, and regained it in the 2023 Assembly elections with a margin of nearly 47,000 votes.
His induction into the Cabinet in August 2026 is his first ministerial assignment after serving three terms in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
According to his election affidavit, Narendraswamy declared assets worth ₹23 crore and liabilities of ₹5.1 crore. He has one pending criminal case (CC No. 6231/2023) under Sections 141, 143, 149, 290 and 336 of the IPC, along with Section 5(3A) of the Epidemic Diseases Act.
T Raghumurthy, 63, represents the reserved Challakere Assembly constituency in Chitradurga district. Born on 10 June, 1963, in Kadabanakatte, he graduated in civil engineering from the Government BDT College of Engineering, Davanagere, under the University of Mysore, in 1985.
T Raghumurthy
He was first elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Challakere in 2013 and has retained the seat in the 2018 and 2023 Assembly elections.
According to his election affidavit, Raghumurthy declared assets worth ₹22.1 crore and liabilities of ₹11.8 crore. He has no criminal cases.
Rizwan Arshad, 47, represents the Shivajinagar Assembly constituency in Bengaluru. Born in 1979, he holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from St Philomena’s College, University of Mysore, completed in 2000-01.
He began his political career in the Congress’s student wing, the NSUI, at St Philomena’s College, Mysuru. He later became the first elected president of the Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress in 2011 and was re-elected to the post in 2014.
Rizwan Arshad
He unsuccessfully contested the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and 2019. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Council in 2016.
He won the Shivajinagar by-election in 2019 by a margin of 15,924 votes and retained the seat in the 2023 Assembly elections.
According to his election affidavit, Arshad declared assets worth ₹21.5 crore and liabilities of ₹7.06 crore.
He has four pending criminal cases: CC Nos. 146/2022, 194/2022, 3169/2022 and 25317/2022. The cases include charges under Sections 141, 143, 149, 290, 336 and 188 of the IPC, along with provisions of the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act, 2020, the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the Karnataka Police Act.
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KM Shivalinge Gowda, 68, represents the Arsikere Assembly constituency in Hassan district. Born in 1958 into an agrarian family, he began his political career in local government, serving as a member of the Hassan Zilla Panchayat from 2001 to 2006, where he worked on rural infrastructure and drinking water projects.
KM Shivalinge Gowda
He entered the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 2008 after winning the Arsikere seat on a JD(S) ticket and retained the constituency for three consecutive terms.
Ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, he joined the Congress and won the seat again, becoming a four-term MLA.
According to his election affidavit, Shivalinge Gowda declared assets worth ₹1.68 crore and liabilities of ₹5 lakh. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Government Arts College, Hassan, under the University of Mysore, obtained in 1980. He has no criminal cases.
Vijayanand Kashappanavar, 54, represents the Hungund Assembly constituency in Bagalkot district. Born on 1 July, 1972, he is the son of Shivashankarappa Rachappa Kashappanavar, a three-term MLA from Hungund.
Vijayanand Kashappanavar
He entered electoral politics in 2013, winning the Hungund seat on a Congress ticket. He lost the constituency to the BJP’s Doddanagouda G Patil in 2018 but regained it in the 2023 Assembly elections with a margin of more than 30,000 votes.
A former chairman of the Karnataka State Sports Authority, his induction into the Cabinet in August 2026 is his first ministerial assignment, more than a decade after he entered the Assembly.
According to his election affidavit, Kashappanavar declared assets worth ₹9.9 crore and liabilities of ₹2.9 crore. He completed his pre-university education at SJ Independent Pre-University College, Vijayapura, in 1992.
He has 11 pending criminal cases, including CC Nos. 5802/2023, 8441/2023, 14282/2022, 14306/2022, 14044/2022, 27541/2021 and 14002/2022, among others arising from FIRs registered between 2014 and 2022. The cases include charges under Sections 143, 147, 149, 153, 269, 270, 271, 283, 341, 353, 392, 504, 506 and 307 of the IPC, along with provisions of the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act, 2020, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
