Karnataka Ministry Without Women Draws BJP Protest in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Opposition BJP legislators in Karnataka on August 14 staged a dharna in front of the Bhuvaneshwari statue near Vidhana Soudha to protest against the state Cabinet formed by Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, which has no woman member. The protest listed several grievances, but the lack of women's representation in the ministry emerged as the central issue.

BJP state unit president B.Y. Vijayendra alleged that the Congress government had acted insensitively by constituting the ministry without any women, despite reports that the party’s high command had cleared the name of a woman MLC for inclusion. “Karnataka is a land of social reformers Basavanna and Akka Mahadevi who strived for women’s empowerment centuries ago. But it is very sad that, for the first time, the legislature session is being held without a woman minister,” he remarked.

BJP MLA and former minister Shashikala Jolle accused the Congress of treating women as a political convenience. “The Congress wants votes of women, but it is not ready to provide representation to women in the ministry,” she said.

Leaders of Opposition in the Assembly and Council, R. Ashok and Chalawadi Narayanswamy, participated in the protest. The demonstration took place amid heightened political debate over women's participation in the state's governance.

The Congress government has not yet officially responded to the allegations. The ruling party has not commented on the BJP's claims that a woman's name had been cleared for a ministerial berth. The current ministry, sworn in earlier this year, has no women ministers, marking a departure from the previous government's composition, which included women.

The issue is likely to continue dominating political discourse as the state legislature session proceeds. Women's representation in ministries has been a recurring concern in Indian states, and Karnataka's current exclusion has drawn sharp reactions from various quarters.