Bhatkal MLA Mankal S Vaidya sworn in as Cabinet Minister

Bengaluru : Mankal Vaidya, a first-timer, took oath as a cabinet minister on Saturday. He had secured victory from the Bhatkal constituency.
Vaidya has been given Fisheries and Ports and Inland Water Transport. Since Mankal Vaidya was the only MLA elected from Fishermen (Mogaveer) community his induction for the cabinet rank was without any hurdles. Earlier this community was filled by Gurmitkal MLA Baburao Chinchansur, who was not elected this time.
Mankal S. Vaidya is an Indian National Congress political activist and member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He contested the 2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections from Bhatkal–Honnavar assembly constituency as an Independent candidate and won by polling 37,319 votes. He later joined the Indian National Congress in 2014.