The Karnataka Government is a democratically elected body where the Governor is the head of the State.

Although the Governor is the head of the government in Karnataka, yet the Karnataka Government works
under the leadership of the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

The Chief Minister along with his council of ministers remains in-charge of the Karnataka Government.
Karnataka Government has been divided into four major revenue divisions, 49 sub-divisions, 27 districts, 175
taluks, and 745 revenue circles for the sake of administration.

Talking about the political and administrative reorganization of the Karnataka Government, it can be said that
Karnataka took its present shape in 1956.
Further, the State Legislature of the Karnataka Government is comprised of the Legislative Assembly and the
Legislative Council. The Legislative Assembly of Karnataka Government consists of 224 members, with one
of the candidate selected by the Karnataka Governor himself.

Besides, the Judiciary is also an integral part of the Karnataka Government. The Judiciary in Karnataka
include a high court in Bangalore, district courts, as well as some Taluq centers.
Talking about the administrative department of the Karnataka Government, we can say that a district is the
administrative geographical unit headed by the Deputy Commissioner or the District Magistrate. The District
Commissioner of Police in Karnataka is entrusted with the responsibility of looking after the law and order of
Karnataka.

Moreover, Karnataka Government is dominated by political parties, viz.: Congress and the Janata Party. The
present Chief Minister of Karnataka, HD Kumarasamy belongs to the Janata Party; whereas the deputy Chief
Minister, BS Yediyuppa hails from the Bharatiya Janata Party, the party that occupies the next position after
Janata Party in KarnatakaKarnataka State has been divided into four Revenue divisions, 49 sub-divisions, 29
districts, 175 taluks and 745 hoblies/Revenue Circles for administrative purposes.[1] The State has 27,028
inhabited and 2,362 uninhabited villages, 281 towns and 7 municipal corporations. Bangalore is the sixth
largest urban agglomeration out of 23 metropolis, urban agglomerations and cities in India. It is among the
fastest growing cities in the world.

Political and administrative reorganisation

Main article: Unification of Karnataka

Karnataka took its present shape in 1956, when the states of Mysore and Coorg (Kodagu) were merged with
the Kannada-speaking districts of the former states of Bombay and Hyderabad, and Madras. Mysore state was
made up of ten districts, Bangalore, Kolar, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Hassan, Chikmagalur (Kadur),
Shimoga and Chitradurga; Bellary had been transferred from Madras state to Mysore in 1953, when the new
Andhra State was created out of Madras' northern districts. Kodagu became a district, and Dakshina Kannada
(South Kanara) district was transferred from Madras state, North Kanara, Dharwad, Belgaum District, and
Bijapur District from Bombay state, and Bidar District, Gulbarga District, and Raichur District from
Hyderabad state.

In 1989, Bangalore Rural district was split from Bangalore and, in 1997, Bagalkot district split from Bijapur,
Chamrajnagar district split from Mysore, Gadag district split from Dharwad, Haveri district split from
Dharwad, Koppal district split from Raichur, Udupi district split from Dakshina Kannada, and Davanagere
district was created from parts of Bellary, Chitradurga, Dharwad, and Shimoga.

In 2008, Bangalore Rural district was split into two and a new district of Ramanagaram was constituted. In the
same way district of Chickballapur was carved out of the erstwhile Kolar district.
Legislature
The State legislature is bicameral and consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The
Legislative Assembly consists of 224 members with one member nominated by the Governor to represent the
Anglo-Indian community. The term of office of the members is five years and the term of a member elected to
the council is six years.[2] The Legislative Council is a permanent body with one-third of its members retiring
every two years.

Ministry
The government is headed by the Governor who appoints the Chief Minister and his council of ministers. The
Governor is appointed for a period of five years and acts as the constitutional head of the State. Even though
the governor remains the ceremonial head of the state, the day to day running of the government is taken care
of by the Chief Minister and his council of ministers in whom a great deal of legislative powers is vested.

The Secretariat headed by the secretary to the governor assists the council of ministers. The council of
ministers consists of cabinet Ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers. The chief minister is also
assisted by the Chief Secretary, who is the head of the administrative services.

List of present Karnataka cabinet ministers

As of 2008, the government of Karnataka consists of 31 ministers. The important porfolio of finance has been
retained by the chief minister.
Chief Minister: B.S. Yeddyurappa
Home: Dr. V.S. Acharya
Law & Parliamentary Affairs and Municipal Administration: S. Suresh Kumar
Power: K.S. Eshwarappa
Rural Development & Panchayati Raj and Rural Water Supply & Sanitation: Shobha Karandlaje
Cooperation: Lakshman Savadi
Agriculture: S.A. Ravindranath
Higher Education: Aravind Limbavali
Medical Education: Ramachandra Gowda
Transport: R. Ashok
Social Welfare: D. Sudhakar
Small Scale Industries and Sericulture: Venkataramanappa
Revenue: G. Karunakara Reddy
Tourism and Infrastructure Development: G. Janardhana Reddy
IT, BT, Excise, BWSSB and Science & Technology: Katta Subramanya Naidu
Food and Civil Supplies: H. Halappa
Health and Family Welfare: B. Sriramulu
Labour: B.N. Bachche Gowda
Textiles and Youth Sevices: Goolihatti Shekhar
Primary and Secondary Education: Visveswara Hegde Kageri
Animal Husbandry: Revu Naik Belamagi
Fisheries, Sports and Small Savings & Lotteries : Krishna Palemar
Horticulture: S.K. Bellubbi
PWD: C.M. Udasi
Agriculture Marketing and Sugar: Shivaraj Tangadagi
Minor Irrigation, Planning and Statistics: Govind .M. Karjol
Medium and Major Irrigation: Basavaraj Bommai
Medium and Major Industries: Murugesh Nirani
Women & Child Development: Narendraswamy
Haj, Wakf and Minority Welfare: Dr. Mumtaz Ali Khan
Chief Minister in India is the elected head of government at the level of States, and is vested with most of
the executive powers. He or she is elected by legislators of the political party or coalition commanding an
assembly majority, and serves a five-year term with a provision of re-election. The Governor is the head of
state, but his or her role is largely ceremonial.

There are a total of thirty Chief Ministers elected by all twenty-eight states and two out of the seven union
territories. The following table lists the parties that hold power in various states.