Karnataka: Madhu Bangarappa retains School Education, Rayareddy gets Higher Education after Cabinet reshuffle

August 14, 2026 /Posted byPrajwal EW / 0

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar allocated portfolios to the newly inducted ministers on Wednesday. While Madhu Bangarappa has retained the School Education and Literacy portfolio, senior Congress leader Basavaraj Rayareddy has been assigned Higher Education.

The allocation is significant for the education sector, which had been without a dedicated minister since D K Shivakumar took charge as Chief Minister.

Madhu Bangarappa has headed Karnataka’s Primary and Secondary Education Department since May 2023. The Congress MLA from Soraba won the 2023 Assembly election with 98,912 votes, defeating his BJP rival and brother, Kumar Bangarappa, by 44,262 votes. He will continue to oversee school education, providing continuity in a department facing several policy and administrative challenges.

Basavaraj Rayareddy, the newly appointed Higher Education Minister, is a senior Congress leader and six-term MLA from Yelburga in Koppal district. He previously served as Higher Education Minister in the Siddaramaiah government from June 2016 to May 2018, taking charge of the department from R V Deshpande. During his tenure, he oversaw universities, colleges and higher education policy in the state.

Rayareddy returned to the state Cabinet in 2026 after serving as Siddaramaiah’s economic adviser with Cabinet rank from 2023. His appointment to the Higher Education portfolio brings back a minister with previous experience of handling the department.

The education portfolios are among the key allocations in the reshuffled Karnataka Cabinet, with the government expected to focus on school-level reforms and the expansion and strengthening of higher education.

The portfolio allocation followed the induction of 19 ministers into the Cabinet earlier this month. Shivakumar has retained the Finance and Cabinet Affairs portfolios, while Zameer Ahmed Khan has been given Housing.

The allocation comes ahead of the Karnataka Assembly’s monsoon session and is expected to bring greater clarity to the functioning of the government.

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Karnataka: Madhu Bangarappa retains School Education, Rayareddy gets Higher Education after Cabinet reshuffle

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