New IndPress

Bangalore, Jun 21: The Janata Dal (Secular)-BJP combine coalition ministry-led by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy in Karnataka was expanded on Wednesday by inducting eight ministers - four each from both the parties.

With this expansion, the strength of the ministry rose to 30. The newly inducted ministers were M P Prakash, H D Revanna, H K Kumaraswamy and Jameer Ahmed Khan from the JD (S) and Sivanand Naik, S A Ravindranath, Revunaik Belamagi and Sasikanth A Naik from the BJP. All the ministers were of cabinet rank.

Governor T N Chaturvedi administered the oath of office and secrecy to the eight ministers at a simple function held inside the banquet hall at the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, here.

The Chief Minister, his deputy B S Yediyurappa and cabinet colleagues and leader of the opposition in the state assembly Dharam Singh were among others who took part in the ceremony.

The coalition government took charge on February three and the first cabinet expansion was effected on February 17 with the induction of 20 ministers.