Published Aug 05, 2026 | 5:58 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 05, 2026 | 5:58 PM
Absence of women in Karnataka cabinet. (DKShivakumar/ X)
Synopsis: Naveddu Nilladiddare, a network of women, feminists and organisations committed to the rights, dignity and justice of women, in the letter claimed, “When the first Cabinet was constituted following your taking charge as Chief Minister, without a single woman, we expressed our deep concern but chose to wait, hoping that the Cabinet expansion would correct this glaring omission. Instead, the expansion has entrenched it.”
A network of women, feminists and organisations, on Wednesday, 5 August, wrote an open letter to Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, strongly condemning the complete exclusion of women from the newly expanded Karnataka Council of Ministers.
Naveddu Nilladiddare, a network of women, feminists and organisations committed to the rights, dignity and justice of women, in the letter claimed, “When the first Cabinet was constituted following your taking charge as Chief Minister, without a single woman, we expressed our deep concern but chose to wait, hoping that the Cabinet expansion would correct this glaring omission. Instead, the expansion has entrenched it.”
Calling it a political choice, they further added, “An all-male Cabinet is not an oversight. It is a political choice. It sends an unmistakable message that women and women’s leadership remains dispensable when it comes to the exercise of State power.”
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Noting that women constitute nearly half of Karnataka’s electorate, they said, “In the last Assembly elections in 2023 in the 52 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka where female voters had outnumbered their male counterparts, Congress received significant gains and won more than half of these seats. This indicates that that your voter base comprises substantially of women. And yet you have ensured that not a single woman has been entrusted with ministerial responsibility.”
“This decision is a profound disservice to Karnataka and shamefully contradicts the values your party publicly claims to uphold. It is particularly troubling for a party that has repeatedly presented itself as a champion of women’s rights, that supported the Women’s Reservation Act in Parliament, and whose own organisational commitment promises 33 percent representation for women,” they added.
Reiterating that women are not absent from public life, the letter noted, “They lead panchayats, municipalities, social movements, self-help groups, trade unions, civil society organisations, academia and businesses. Millions of women are central to Karnataka’s economy, governance and democratic life. Yet when the highest executive body of the State is constituted, they are erased and rendered invisible. This exclusion and erasure is not merely symbolic.”
The letter further added, “Council of Ministers is where the State’s most important political and policy decisions are made. Denying women a place at that table undermines the constitutional promises of equality, dignity and equal opportunity, while reinforcing the deeply patriarchal assumption that political power belongs primarily to men.”
“The omission is made even more disturbing by reports that Gayathri Shanthegowda’s name appeared in the list of likely ministers before being dropped from the final Cabinet. If women’s representation can be negotiated away at the last moment to accommodate internal political equations, it exposes how women’s leadership is treated not as a democratic imperative but as expendable political bargaining chip.”
“The Congress cannot claim the moral authority to advocate greater political representation for women nationally while presiding over an all-male Cabinet in Karnataka. The contradiction is stark. Gender equality cannot be reduced to an election slogan or a manifesto promise; it must be reflected in who holds power.”
“Across India, women remain significantly underrepresented in Cabinets and legislatures despite constituting nearly half the population and the electorate. Karnataka has now joined the ranks of governments that have chosen to exclude women entirely from their highest decision-making body. This is a democratic deficit and an exercise of patriarchal power, not simply a gender imbalance,” the letter added.
They called upon the Government of Karnataka to immediately rectify this failure by inducting qualified women into the Council of Ministers.
“We know that your Party has enough of such capable women leaders who have demonstrated their commitment to a more inclusive politics. We also urge all political parties to ensure that their commitments to gender equality are reflected not merely in rhetoric but in the actual distribution of political power. A government that claims to uphold constitutional values cannot justify a Cabinet in which women have no place.”
“Otherwise, the message being sent to the women of Karnataka, and to the country, is unmistakable: This is no State for women. We will continue to hold governments accountable until women’s equal participation in political power is treated not as charity but as a constitutional obligation. We wait to see how accountable you are to the women of Karnataka,” the letter said.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
