Congress veteran Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka for the second term on Saturday afternoon at Bengaluru's Kanteerava Stadium. Along with him, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar also took oath as the deputy CM of the southern state. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Chief Minister and his cabinet.
Along with the CM and the Deputy CM, eight MLAs also took the oath of office. The names include Dr. G Parameshwara, KH Muniyappa, KJ George, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge (son of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge), Ramalinga Reddy, and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan.
Top brass of the Congress party including the Gandhi family members - Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, party's national president Mallikarjun Kharge were present on the occasion. The Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled states including Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel attended the event.
The party had also sent an invitation to numerous opposition parties and their leaders. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Deputy Tejashwi Yadav, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah were also present during the swearing-in ceremony. Other opposition leaders who were present include Sharad Pawar, Kamal Haasan.
Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan attends the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected Karnataka Government in Bengaluru. Earlier in the day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that it was a matter of delight that a new and strong Congress government has come to power in Karnataka and various leaders are going to participate in the swearing-in ceremony scheduled on Saturday.
"Today is the swearing-in ceremony of the CM, Deputy CM, and eight MLAs who will take oath as the ministers (in the state cabinet), everyone is attending it. I am going for the same. It is a matter of delight that a new and strong Congress government has come to power in Karnataka. This will benefit Karnataka and it is creating a good environment in the country," Kharge said while talking to the media before leaving for Karnataka, as quoted by ANI.
After days of deliberation, Congress general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal on Thursday made the announcement at the party headquarters in the national capital that party leader Siddaramaiah will be the next Karnataka Chief Minister and DK Shivakumar will be Deputy Chief Minister.
Ahead of the oath-taking ceremony in Karnataka, Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday evening.
"We have come to meet our leaders, Rahul Ji, Sonia Ji, Priyanka Ji, and Kharge Ji to invite our leaders for tomorrow. They had come and given their sweat and proper directions. So, I wanted to invite them personally. Later, we are discussing the cabinet formation," Shivakumar told the reporters, as quoted by ANI.