Siddaramaiah will be sworn in as chief minister for a second term on Saturday, along with his deputy D K Shivakumar and a group of legislators as ministers, exactly a week after the Congress swept the Karnataka assembly polls.
Congress chief M Mallikarjun Kharge has invited leaders of several like-minded parties to the oath-taking ceremony where Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the Chief Minister and his Cabinet at 12.30 pm at the Kanteerava Stadium here.
The venue is the same place where Siddaramaiah was sworn in in 2013 when he first became the Chief Minister.
The event may prove to be a show of strength for the opposition parties amid unity efforts to take on the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress on Thursday named Siddaramaiah the next chief minister and state PCC chief Shivakumar, a strong contender for the top post, as its sole representative, ending a tense standoff after lengthy negotiations involving the central leadership.
A session of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) later on Thursday formally elected Siddaramaiah as its leader and chief minister, after which he staked his claim on the governor, who called on him to form the government.
The 75-year-old will become the CM for the second time after his earlier stint of five years in 2013. While 61-year-old Shivakumar, who earlier worked as a minister under Siddaramaiah, will also continue as Karnataka state president. until the next parliamentary elections.
Chief Minister-designate Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar left for Delhi today to discuss with the party high command the names of legislators to be inducted into the cabinet as well as the allocation of portfolios.
As the number of approved Karnataka Cabinets is 34, there are too many candidates for ministerial berths. Kharge, former presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, also general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, several chief ministers and Congress leaders are expected to attend the event.
Kharge invited Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Invitations were also sent to National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, among others.
Congress promised to implement ‘guarantees’ – 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 per month assistance to the woman head of each family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg rice free for each member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), 3,000 Rs every month for graduates and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi) and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti), on the very first day of assuming power in the state.
“Delivering on the promises we made to the people is our first priority,” Deputy Chief Ministerial nominee Shivakumar said today.
Elaborate security measures have been put in place in and around the venue to ensure that the event goes off smoothly without any hindrance amid the presence of several national-level leaders and officials from other states, officials said, adding that traffic will also have to be restricted. controlled because the event will take place in the city center.
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