To give stability for the coalition government in Karnataka, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has allotted two independent legislators as a part of the cabinet expansion on Friday.
In a move to secure the position in the assembly, R Shankar and H Nagesh took oath as ministers in the HDK cabinet. The oath of office and secrecy ceremony was administered by Governor Vajubhai Vala at the Glass House in Raj Bhavan.
Congress has 21 ministers in the cabinet while the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) has 10. While R Shankar was accommodated under the remaining vacancy of the Congress, the Mulbagal MLA from Kolar district, H Nagesh, was given the cabinet rank under JD(S) that has left one ministerial berth vacant as of now.
Shankar, a legislator of Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party from Ranebennur in Haveri district, had served as minister during the initial days of the Kumaraswamy government but was dropped from the cabinet during last year's shuffle.
Both Shanker and Nagesh had earlier withdrawn their support from the coalition and sided with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to topple the government but since the saffron party failed in its attempt, the ministers have again sided with the coalition.
The coalition government, which has been facing severe turbulence, has purposefully planted them in the cabinet to refrain them from switching back their support to the BJP.
