The expansion illustrates the arithmetic that constrains every state ministry. The 91st Constitutional Amendment of 2003 capped the Council of Ministers at 15% of Assembly strength precisely to end the practice of jumbo cabinets used to keep legislators loyal. Karnataka's ceiling of 34 means that in a 224-member Assembly with a large ruling party, most legislators cannot be accommodated — which is the source of the discontent that followed. The absence of any woman in a 33-member ministry is the other point worth noting, and it sits awkwardly against the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 reserving a third of Assembly seats for women once it comes into effect. Note also that a cabinet expansion is formally an executive act of the Governor on the Chief Minister's advice, even when the decision is made by a party high command.