KARNATAKA: Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office and secrecy to Siddaramiah at the swearing-in ceremony held at the jam-packed Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. Top CM post contender DK Shivkumar who later agreed for power sharing was also administred the oath as the Deputy CM of the state.
Eight newly elected MLAs with diverse representation– G Parameshwara, KH Muniyappa , KJ George, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge, Ramalinga Reddy, and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan — also took the oath of office. According to sources, portfolios haven’t been distributed to them yet.
Siddaramiah has become the Chief Minister for the second time after his earlier five-year stint from 2013. While 61-year-old Shivakumar, who had earlier worked as Minister under Mr Siddaramaiah, will also continue as the party’s Karnataka state president till Parliamentary elections are over next year.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi who attended the event along with party’s national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, addressed the excited crowd gathered at thr stadium. He reiterated his party would fulfil the five guarantees it had promised. “Congress won the election only because it stood with the poor, the disadvantaged,” he said.
Among the opposition leaders invited to the event Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, CPI’s D Raja, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, PDP’s Mehbuba Mufti, Sharad Pawar from NCP, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, and actor-turned politician Kamal Haasan, were in attendance in a symbolic display of Opposition unity against the BJP.