Big Setback For Shivakumar As CM: Minister Ramalinga Reddy Quits, Was Upset Over Portfolio Allocation

Ramalinga Reddy Resigns: Just days after D K Shivakumar took the oath as Karnataka’s chief minister and rolled out his cabinet, trouble has already started to brew inside the government. On Friday, senior Congress leader and Karnataka minister Ramalinga Reddy quit over the cabinet’s portfolio allocations. He’s upset because he got handed the Major and Medium Irrigation department, when what he really wanted and expected was Bengaluru Development. People close to Reddy say he was promised the Bengaluru Development portfolio all the way back in 2023. It’s a powerful role, and now it’s gone to Minister Krishna Byre Gowda.

🚨 BIG BREAKING

Karnataka Minister Ramalinga Reddy tenders his RESIGNATION over portfolio allocation. pic.twitter.com/vPfr7iBf4Y

— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) June 5, 2026

Ramalinga Reddy Resigns

At a press conference right after his resignation, Reddy explained his decision. He insisted this wasn’t about holding on to power; he just felt let down. According to Reddy, the party told him he’d get the Bengaluru Development post, and breaking that promise pushed him to resign.

He went on to talk about his long journey in politics. He first got involved back in 1973 as a student leader with NSUI. Since then, he’s contested assembly elections, landed his first ministerial post under former chief minister Veerappa Moily, and has served as a minister six times in his career. It’s a track record that’s hard to ignore, and for him, this is more than just missing out on a cabinet posting; it’s about keeping promises within the party.

Ramalinga Reddy: ‘This is for the first time that I have not gone to…..’

“This is for the first time that I have not gone to anybody to make me minister of any department or ministry,” said Reddy. I’ve never gone to anyone looking for a certain portfolio.

According to Reddy, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had personally promised him to give him the Bengaluru Development portfolio. He went on to say that Shivakumar and his brother had told him that the department would be allotted to him after two-and-a-half years. “The Chief Minister had assured me that I would be given the Bengaluru Development portfolio. DKS and his brother had also informed me that after 2½ years I was going to receive the portfolio,” he added. 

#WATCH | Bengaluru | Ramalinga Reddy resigns as Karnataka Minister, says, “I am still in the Congress party; I have not resigned from the party. I have been in the Congress party for the past 53 years. I have handled several responsibilities within the party.I have served as a… pic.twitter.com/5SnASNSpJl

— ANI (@ANI) June 5, 2026

Portfolio Row Triggers Strain In DKS Cabinet

D K Shivakumar, who had the Finance portfolio, also had the Bengaluru Development department portfolio but it was reassigned to him as the Deputy Chief Minister, triggering turmoil in the Congress.

According to reports, Ramalinga Reddy had heavily argued for the portfolio and expressed his dismay to Shivakumar when he was not picked. Reddy has several years of experience in administration and is a senior Congress leader, who has served as a member of the legislature for six successive terms in the city of Bengaluru.

ALSO READ: Karnataka Cabinet 2026: DK Shivakumar Keeps Finance, G Parameshwara Gets Revenue | Full List of Ministers And Their Portfolios