Kumaraswamy to take oath as CM tomorrow, Congress' G Parameshwara to be his deputy

JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy will be sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka on Tuesday in a ceremony which is being projected as a show of strength by non-BJP parties. Along with Kumaraswamy, Congress leader G Parameshwara will take oath as the deputy chief minister.

JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy. Photo: PTI

BENGALURU: JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy will be sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka on Tuesday in a ceremony which is being projected as a show of strength by non-BJP parties. Along with Kumaraswamy, Congress leader G Parameshwara will take oath as the deputy chief minister. "After a meeting of senior Congress and JDS leaders it was decided that the state cabinet will be consist of 34 ministers, out of which 22 ministeries will go to the Congress party and remaining 12, including the chief minister's post, will be with the JDS," Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge KC Venugopal told ANI. Earlier in the day, while talking to reporters in Bengaluru, Kumaraswamy said that running the Congress-JDS coalition government over the next five years will be a "big challenge" for him. "This is a big challenge in my life. I'm not expecting that I will be able to fulfil my responsibilities as chief minister easily," PTI quoted Kumaraswamy as saying. "People also have doubts, not only me, people in the state also have doubt whether this government will function smoothly. But I have belief that with the grace of Sharadambe and Sringeri jagadguru (Shankaracharya) everything will go smoothly," he said after visiting Sringeri Sharada temple and Dakshinamnaya Peetham established up by Adi Shankaracharya. Kumaraswamy on Monday met Congress President Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Delhi to discuss the modalities of government formation. He also invited both Congress leaders to his oath-taking ceremony. Kumaraswamy has also invited SP President Akhilesh Yadav, BSP supremo Mayawati, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and others to attend the event to be held in Bengaluru at the Vidhan Soudha. On Saturday, BJP's BS Yeddyurappa had stepped down as the chief minister without facing the floor test in the state Assembly as his party fell short of numbers, following which Kumaraswamy met state Governor Vajubhai Vala and was invited to form the government. The JDS leader is expected to prove majority in the House within 24 hours of his swearing-in ceremony.