What do we know about Karnataka government and politics?
The Government of Karnataka is headed by a Governor. In this democratic form of government, the Chief Minister as well as the council of ministers is appointed by the Governor. Most of the legislative powers are vested on them.
- Bharatiya Janata Party (B. J. P.)
- Indian National Congress (I. N. C.)
- Janata Dal (Secular) (J. D. S.)
Karnataka Government is divided into the following administrative divisions:
- Revenue circles: 745
- Revenue divisions: 4
- Sub-divisions: 49
- Taluks: 175
- Inhabited villages: 27, 028
- Uninhabited villages: 2, 362
- Towns: 281
- Districts: 29
- Municipal corporations: 7
The State Legislature of Karnataka comprises of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly and is bi-cameral in nature.
- Legislative Assembly: The assembly is a seat of total 224 members, out of which the Karnataka Governor nominates one member to represent the community of Anglo-Indians. Each of these members of the Legislative Assembly can hold office for 5 years.
- Legislative Council: This is a permanent part of the government, where one-third of the members retire every 2 years. Every member of this council is allowed to hold office for 6 years though.
Headed by Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj, the present Governor of Karnataka, the ministry of the state is formed by Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda, the existing Chief Minister of the state and his Cabinet of Ministers. The below mentioned table provides an overview of the Cabinet of Ministers of Karnataka:
| Name of Minister | Assigned Departments |
|---|---|
| Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda, Chief Minister | Cabinet Affairs, Commerce and Industries Department, Finance, Health and Family Welfare (Except Medical Education), Information and Tourism, Infrastructure Development, Intelligence Wing, Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Social Welfare, Revenue, Urban Development, Youth Services |
| Dr. V. S. Acharya | Higher Education, Information and Bio-Technology (Excluding Technology and Science), Planning, Revenue, Statistics |
| Shri Govind M. Karjol | Water Resources, Information and Tourism (Culture and Kannada) |
| Shri Udasi Channabasappa Mahalingappa | Public Works (Except Inland Water Transport and Ports) |
| Shri R. Ashok | Home Department (Except Prisons and Intelligence Wing), Transport |
| Shri Kageri Vishweshwara Hegde | Education (Primary as well as secondary education but not public libraries and mass education) |
| Shri S. A. Ravindranath | Commerce and Industries (Sugar) |
| Shri B. N. Bacchegowda | Sericulture, Labor |
| Shri J. Krishna Palemar | Public Works (Inland Water Transport and Ports), Ecology and Environment |
| Shri Jagadish Shettar | Panchayat Raj and Rural Development |
| Shri M. P. Renukacharya | Finance (Excise) |
| Shri Murugesh Rudrappa Nirani | Commerce and Industries (Medium scale and large industries) |
| Shri Laxman Sangappa Savadi | Co-operation |
| Shri Umesh Vishwanath Katti | Agriculture |
| Shri V. Somanna | Housing |
| Shri A. Narayana Swamy | Social Welfare (Excluding welfare of minorities) |
| Shri Basavaraj Bommai | Water Resources (Medium and Major Irrigation) |
| Shri Suresh Kumar S. | Law and Human Rights, Legislature, Parliamentary Affairs, Urban Development |
| Shri Revu Naik Belamgi | Education (Public libraries and mass education), Finance (Lotteries and small savings), Animal Husbandry |
| Shri C. C. Patil | Women and Child Development |
| Shri S. A. Ramdas | Medical Education |
| Kum. Shobha Karandlaje | Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Energy |
| Shri Balachandra Laxmanrao Jarakiholi | Urban Development (Local bodies and municipalities), Public Enterprises |
| Shri R. Varthur Prakash | Commerce and Industries (Textiles) |
| Shri Asnotikar Anand Vasant | Fisheries, Science and Technology |
| Shri C. P. Yogishwar | Forest |
| Shri Narasimha Nayak (Raju Gowda) | Commerce and Industries (Small Scale Industries) |
How is the Executive form of Karnataka Government?
A District Magistrate or a Deputy Commissioner heads this form of state government, who is supported by the officers of the civil services and the other state services of Karnataka. Some of the most important officials belonging to this form of government are Deputy Commissioner of Police, who is responsible for law and order of the state and Deputy Conservator of Forests, who looks after forest lands of the state. The district head of the varied departments looks after the sectoral development.
Who forms the judiciary form of government in Karnataka?
Karnataka High Court is the main component of the state judiciary. Advocate General of the state is even Karnataka's Chief Legal Advisor. The same person is designated as Chief Magistrate in the metropolitan areas of the state. Some of the other important positions included in the judiciary system of the state are:
- Chief Judicial Magistrate
- Judicial Magistrate
- Civil Judges
- District Judges
- Session Judges
Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court (locally called Attara Kacheri) is the High Court for the state of Karnataka. In 1884, it was established under the Mysore High Court Act, 1884 and was then known as the Mysore High Court until 1973, when the name of the state was altered. The headquarter of Karnataka High Court is in Bangalore which is the administrative capital of the state. The judge strength of Karnataka High Court is 40. The sitting judges at Karnataka High Court are:
- Cyriac Joseph
- Chidananda Ullal
- SR Bannurmath
- V.Gopalagowda
- Manjula Chellur
- K.Sreedhar Rao
- VG Sabhahit
- KL Manjunath
- N.Kumar
- DV Shylendra Kumar
- NK Patil
- K.Ramanna
- K.Bhakthavatsala
- Ajit. J. Gunjal
- Mohan M. Shanthanagoudar
- HG Ramesh
- S.Abdul Nazeer
- Ram Mohan Reddy
- H.Billappa
- AC Kabbin
Karnataka National Parties
The national parties of Karnataka at a glance :-
The Indian National Congress - In the year 1994, S. Bangiappa post fragmenting away from the Indian National Congress main body, established the Karnataka Congress Party (KCP). But after a rather abysmal performance in the state assembly where the KCP only managed to secure 10 seats, it retreated under the shell of one of the national parties, the Indian National Congress.
Being headed by Sonia Gandhi, it is indeed a force to be reckoned with and constitutes an integral appendage of the Karnataka politics.
The Janata Dal (Secular) - It made its presence felt during the year 1977, under the apt guidance of Jayprakash Narayan. This party has the former Prime Minister of India, HD Deve Gowda as its functional head and is known to have formulated the maiden coalition Government in the dominion named Karnataka along with the Indian National Congress.
Bharatiya Janata Party - It comprises of an elite group of politicians like the current Deputy Chief Minister, B.S. Yediyurappa, former Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee, former Deputy Prime Minister, Lal Krishna Advani and many more.
Karnataka Administrative Service
The Karnataka Administrative Services holds an important and prestigious position in the general administration of this southern state of India.
The Karnataka Administrative Services, under the authorization of Karnataka Public Service Commission, was formulated by the Constitution of India in the year 1951. Earlier to that, the appointments to the Karnataka Administrative Service and the related functions were carried out by the State Government.
To facilitate the smooth functioning of administrative services in the state, Karnataka has been divided into a number of sub-divisions and districts. Each sub-division is handled by an IAS officer who is helped out in the job by a team of officers belonging to the Karnataka administrative services.
The Karnataka Administrative Services operates out of the office building called Park House which is situated in Vidhan Soudha in Bangalore. Prior to 1951, the administrative services were conducted at the United India Building in Bangalore City.
One of the most important functions of the Karnataka Administrative Services is to conduct and regularize the entrance examinations for the recruitment of administrative officers. Competitive examination, personal test and interview are held to recruit the officers.
The Karnataka Administrative Service commission is headed by a Chairman, a Secretary and the board of members who assist the Chairman in his day-to-day office affairs. It is the responsibility of this body to run the administration of Karnataka smoothly and efficiently.
Last Updated on 26th March 2013
| Government and Politics |
