NEW DELHI: Siddaramaiah took oath as the chief minister of Karnataka while state Congress president DK Shivakumar was sworn-in as the deputy chief minister on Saturday, a week after the grand old party secured a decisive victory in the assembly elections.
Siddaramaiah, who had earlier served as the chief minister of Karnataka from 2013 to 2018, emerged as the Congress pick for the top post after a
hectic tussle with Shivakumar that lasted nearly one week.
and secrecy to the chief minister and his Cabinet at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, where Siddaramaiah had taken oath in 2013, when he became chief minister for the first time.
Besides Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, eight other legislators took oath as ministers: G Parameshwara, K H Muniyappa, K J George, M B Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge (Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharge's son), Ramalinga Reddy, and B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan.
After taking oath as the CM, Siddaramaiah vowed to give an administration that people expect from his party.
He also reiterated that Congress's five "guarantees" will be passed in Cabinet meeting and an order will be issued to implement them today itself.
Show of strengthThe swearing-in ceremony turned into a muscle-flexing platform for the opposition with the who's who of the political parties joining the event.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah were among the opposition leaders who attended the ceremony.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, chief ministers of Congress-ruled states — Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) and Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) — and Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) were also present.
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, actor-politician Kamal Haasan, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja too were present.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee did not attend the ceremony.
Banerjee designated TMC deputy leader in Lok Sabha Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar to attend the programme on her behalf.
Former Union minister M Veerappa Moily said on Friday the swearing-in ceremony could also be a launchpad for opposition unity and demonstration of strength and solidarity.
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