Karnataka Monsoon Session to Begin With All-Male 33-Member Cabinet

The Karnataka Legislature’s monsoon session is set to commence on August 13 without a single woman minister in the state's 33-member Cabinet. Following recent Cabinet expansion and portfolio allocations, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s ministry features no female representation despite earlier lists including women leaders.

Gayathri Shanthegowda was the lone woman included in the Congress high command's initial approved list of ministers. However, her name was removed before the swearing-in ceremony amid negotiations and demands from competing interest groups during discussions in New Delhi and Karnataka.

Addressing media inquiries regarding the absence of women in his Cabinet, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar stated that there was "no urgency" in the matter. He assured that the single vacant Cabinet position remaining in the state government would eventually be filled by a woman representative.

The decision drew criticism from Naveddu Nilladiddare, a network of feminists and women’s rights organisations. In a formal letter addressed to the Chief Minister, the group stated that an all-male Cabinet is not an oversight, but a political choice that sends a message that women's leadership remains dispensable during the exercise of state power.

The omission comes despite the Congress party campaigning on promises of women's empowerment during the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections. The state government subsequently introduced schemes such as Gruha Lakshmi, which provides ₹2,000 monthly to eligible women heads of families, and Shakti, offering free travel for women in select buses. Additionally, final electoral rolls published prior to the 2023 elections showed that female voters outnumbered male voters in 17 of Karnataka's 34 electoral divisions.

Small-scale protests were reported in Belagavi in north Karnataka following the dropping of Lakshmi Hebbalkar, who previously served as the Minister for Women and Child Development under the Siddaramaiah-led administration. However, broader public demonstrations regarding overall female cabinet representation remained minimal.

In the 2023 Assembly elections, 185 women contested out of 2,613 total candidates across Karnataka. Ten women were elected, with one additional woman joining later through a bypoll, representing roughly 4.5% of the total Assembly strength. Historically, female representation in Karnataka's ministry reached its peak under former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, when four women held cabinet posts.