Bangalore: Coalition partners Congress and Janata Dal Secular on Wednesday appointed 25 ministers in Karnataka after 15 days of hectic meetings and negotiations in Bangalore and Delhi.

The new ministers were sworn in by governor Vajubhai Vala at Raj Bhavan. While 10 ministers are from the JDS, 15 belong to the Congress.

The 27-member cabinet held its first meeting later in the evening at the Vidhana Soudha where the new ministers were briefed about the common intent of providing good governance for the next five years. The portfolios will be announced on Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and deputy chief minister G. Parameshwara said the administration had not stopped because of the delay in cabinet formation.

"We held several meetings with all the departments. So it's wrong to say the state did not have an administration in the past 15 days," Kumaraswamy told a news conference after the first full cabinet meeting.

The post-poll alliance that managed to keep the single-largest party, the BJP, out of government formation had set tongues wagging because of the delay in appointing the council of ministers. The alliance partners had, however, rubbished speculation about a serious crisis.

But the omission of some senior leaders, mostly from the Congress, sparked protests in their respective districts on Wednesday. Among them are Congress leaders M.B. Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Shamanur Shivashankarappa and N.A. Harris.

While former irrigation minister Patil had shot into the limelight by leading the Lingayat community's demand to be recognised as a separate religion, Jarkiholi was one of the poll managers of former chief minister P.C. Siddaramaiah in Badami. Siddaramaiah managed to scrape through in Badami and lost in Mysore's Chamundeshwari.

Shivashankarappa is a veteran leader and a face of the Veerashaiva community that had opposed the Karnataka government's move to notify the Lingayats as a separate religious minority. Harris represents Shantinagar in Bangalore.

The others who missed out are former ministers Ramalinga Reddy, Roshan Baig and H.K. Patil - all of them regular features in the previous Congress governments.

M.B. Patil attended the swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday afternoon and said he would respect the party's decision.

"I don't know why I am not on the list (of ministers). I am ready to sit out and work for the party as an ordinary worker. But I will not accept any position even if I am offered one," he said, unable to hide his disappointment.

Parameshwara, who also happens to be the Karnataka Congress president, admitted that some leaders were unhappy over being left out of the cabinet.

"All these leaders are senior and eligible for any position in the government or in the party. We are going to talk to each one of them and resolve whatever issues they have and settle the matter once and for all," he told a news conference.

"We have 79 MLAs and 22 cabinet slots to fill. So it's impossible to accommodate everyone. But we could consider some of them as we have to fill six vacancies," Parameshwara said. "There is nothing unusual in such disgruntlement as we have seen even single-party governments struggling to form the cabinet."

Among the Congress legislators sworn in as ministers were its principal trouble-shooter D.K. Shivakumar, R.V. Deshpande, K.J. George, Krishna Byre Gowda, Priyank Kharge, Ramesh Jarkiholi (brother of Satish) and U.T. Khader. Jayamala is the lone woman member of the cabinet.

Shivakumar had kept the Congress flock intact in the face of alleged poaching attempts by the BJP and was said to be unhappy at not being appointed deputy chief minister.

Those who joined the cabinet exuded confidence about ensuring good governance.

"The Opposition BJP, which has been making a lot of noise about the delay in cabinet formation, has been silenced," said veteran JDS legislator G.T. Deve Gowda, who trounced Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari.

There were some like Zameer Ahmed of the Congress who claimed he didn't seek a ministerial berth but gladly accepted one when offered. "Just as I didn't expect any berth, I am ready to handle any ministry," he said.