| Carrying out the much talked about and delayed expansion, Singh met the December 15 deadline set by the coalition partner JD(S), whose legislators were upset over the delay and had warned against any further dithering, causing uneasiness in the coalition. |
| Eighteen ministers were inducted in the Cabinet with nine each from the Congress and the JD(S). Two JD(S) members joined as ministers of state, with Governor TN Chaturvedi administering the oath of office and secrecy at the portals of the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, at a brief ceremony. |
| With today's expansion the strength of the Congress-JD(S) ministry rose to 32 and Singh said at a press conference, after an informal Cabinet meeting, that he would induct two more shortly, to take the ministry's strength to 34 in line with the constitutional amendment fixing a ceiling on the ministry size. |
| Singh did not explain why the Congress chose to keep in abeyance induction of two ministers from its side. |
| Admitting that there was delay in ministry expansion, Singh attributed it to political events like elections to legislative council and the Bidar Lok Sabha by-election, among others. |
| Singh, heaving a sigh of relief over the ministry expansion, said the six-month-old issue had been settled now. "Though it is late, because it is a coalition government. Talks were going on. We have done it now". |
| Asked if leaving out many ministerial aspirants, including some seniors, would lead to disgruntlement, Singh said, "they (legislators) are happy. This is the decision of the high command. "We have taken the permission of the high command". |
| "This (expansion) has put an end to the debate that was going on for the last six months. It (the debate) had overshadowed the good achievements of the coalition government," Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said. |
| The expansion saw induction of former minister RV Deshpande whose entry had reportedly came in for opposition from the JD(S) but another weighty aspirant SK Shivakumar, a strongman in the SM Krishna ministry and a bete noire of JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda, has been left out, as also some other seniors, including A Krishnappa and Parameshwara. |
| Today's exercise is expected to cause resentment among strong ministerial aspirants from both the Congress and the JD(S) camps, adding to the woes of Singh who is already weighed down by the task of managing coalition contradictions. |
| Several districts, including the Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shimoga, Kodagu and Chikamagalur are unrepresented in the ministry but the chief minister explained it away saying the "numbers are limited", apparently referring to the cap on ministry strength. |
| This is the second expansion carried out by Singh after the Congress-JD(S) coalition came to power on May 28 in a post-election arrangement. |
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