Bengaluru: Ten days after expanding his cabinet, chief minister D K Shivakumar Wednesday ended days of suspense, allocating portfolios to all 19 new ministers and reshuffling key departments held by senior ministers Ramalinga Reddy and K H Muniyappa.There is still no woman minister in the cabinet.The allocation, announced on the eve of the legislature’s Monsoon session, also has Shivakumar retaining direct control of several strategically important departments, including finance, law and Bengaluru’s major planning authorities.Reddy, who was given the water resources portfolio after Shivakumar became CM, has now been moved to forest, ecology and environment. The move came as a surprise as Reddy had publicly said he was content with water resources.N Cheluvarayaswamy has been given water resources, while newly inducted minister P M Narendra Swamy has been allocated agriculture, taking the portfolio away from Cheluvarayaswamy.Muniyappa, who had expressed dissatisfaction with his food and civil supplies and consumer affairs portfolios, has been moved to social welfare, while newly inducted minister Rizwan Arshad has been handed food and civil supplies and consumer affairs.Muniyappa had been arguing that ministers from the Dalit Right had been given key portfolios while those from the Dalit Left group, including him, got relatively less prominent departments. He has now been handed the social welfare portfolio — a department he has been keen on since joining the ministry in 2023.Days after the govt came under fire for leaving the Brahmin community unrepresented in the cabinet, nine-time MLA R V Deshpande has been made the chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission with cabinet minister rank. Deshpande, who represents Haliyal, will head the commission for a second term after serving from Dec 2023 to Dec 2025.The govt also appointed Virajpet MLA A S Ponnanna as political secretary to Shivakumar, also with cabinet rank. Ponnanna, who was initially nominated for deputy speaker, told TOI he had opted for the political secretary post and was not interested in becoming deputy speaker.Meanwhile, Shivakumar has retained BDA and BMRDA despite Bengaluru development minister Krishna Byre Gowda seeking the two portfolios along with GBA.Shivakumar also retained finance, cabinet affairs, DPAR, intelligence, information, law, justice and human rights, parliamentary affairs and legislation, agriculture marketing, and several urban planning responsibilities, including the Commissionerate of Town and Country Planning and urban local bodies.Lakshman Savadi, the former BJP deputy CM who joined Congress in 2023 after being denied a ticket by BJP, gets cooperation, with agriculture marketing carved out of the portfolio.U T Khader, who was Speaker, gets minority welfare, Haj and Wakf in addition to health and family welfare. B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan has been divested of minority welfare, Haj and Wakf, but retains housing, which he held in the Siddaramaiah cabinet.The change comes amid allegations of anti-party activities against him during the recent Davangere bypoll.Basavaraj Rayareddy, a former finance adviser to Siddaramaiah, returns as higher education minister, a portfolio he had held from 2013 to 2018.The expanded ministry now has 33 members, including CM Shivakumar, with one berth still lying vacant.GFXKEY CHANGES:* D K Shivakumar: Retains BDA, BMRDA, finance, law and key urban-planning portfolios* Ramalinga Reddy: From water resources → forest, ecology & environment; Cheluvarayaswamy gets water resources* K H Muniyappa: From food & civil supplies → social welfare;* Rizwan Arshad gets food & civil supplies* B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan: Loses minority welfare, Haj & Wakf, retains housing; U T Khader gets minority welfare, Haj & WakfOthers: Savadi gets cooperation; Rayareddy gets higher education; Lamani gets sugar & textiles; Raghumurthy gets ST welfare
