The cabinet led by new Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar has the stamp of social engineering, featuring a mix of important castes and two minority faces — a Muslim and a Christian – but no women.Mix of castes, minority faces in new Karnataka cabinetNine of the 14 ministers who took oath on Wednesday were from southern Karnataka and five were from the northern part of the state. Shivakumar, who represents the Kanakapura assembly seat in the Bengaluru rural area, is a powerful leader of the Vokkaligas, a dominant community that has produced six CMs so far in the state.The new cabinet, according to many leaders, has two Vokkaliga ministers and three ministers from the Lingayats, another dominant community in the state. There are three Dalit faces, two Kuruba leaders and one minister each from the Reddy, Scheduled Tribe, Christian and Muslim communities.G Parameshwara, former home minister and a key Dalit face, was inducted as deputy CM. His elevation signalled the Congress’s electoral calculations as well as social engineering. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank, another Dalit leader, was retained in the cabinet.In 2023, the party secured a substantial chunk of Dalit and tribal votes in the Vokkaliga belt that runs between Kolar and Mysuru. “The CM, from a dominant caste, combined with a Dalit deputy CM sends the right political signal to the voters,” said a former Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka. Adding more power to the Congress’s social engineering, former Union railway minister KH Muniappa, who was retained in the cabinet, also belongs to the Dalit community. Former speaker UT Khader and energy minister KJ George represent the two minority communities.Former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra and Hebbal MLA Byrathi Suresh come from the Kuruba caste, the third largest social group in Karnataka. The two leaders were picked after Siddaramaiah— the tallest Kuruba leader in the state—stepped down to make way for Shivakumar.Lingayat leader MB Patil, Valmiki (Nayaka or tribal) lawmaker Satish Jharkiholi, Eshwar Khandre from the powerful Veerashiva (Lingayat) community, Krishna Byre Gowda (Vokkaliga) and Sharan Prakash Patil—the third Lingayat leader-- also took oath as ministers. Ramalinga Reddy hails from the Reddy community.