Karnataka swearing-in Highlights: 3-day Legislative Assembly session from Monday, says CM Siddaramaiah

Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru is all decked up for the swearing-in ceremony. But the interesting part is that Siddaramaiah had taken oath in the same venue as the CM in 2013.

Along with Siddaramaiah's oath as the new chief minister, DK Shivakumar will also take oath as the deputy chief minister. 

More than one lakh people are expected to take part in Siddaramaiah’s swearing-in ceremony, Congress office-bearers told Hindustan Times. Siddaramaiah is becoming the chief minister of Karnataka for the second time. His first tenure was 2013-2018.

Preparations are underway for the event at Bengaluru’s Kanteerava stadium. Officials told Hindustan Times that apart from the 25,000-seat capacity of the stadium, additional seating will be provided on the ground.

Chief minsiter: Siddaramaiah 

Deputy chief minister: DK Shivakumar

Sources said that 20 to 25 ministers could take oath on Saturday. Some prominent names included former Karnataka Congress chief and ex-deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, Lingayat leader M B Patil, senior Congressman and former minister KJ George, they said. Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Roopa Shashidhar, the daughter of former Union minister K H Muniyappa, Karnataka Congress working president Eshwara Khandre, former minister Tanveer Sait, senior leader Krishna Byre Gowda and Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council B K Hariprasad are among the names considered, the sources said.

The oath-taking of the Congress government in Karnataka is set to be a stage for opposition unity, with the presence of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, and several other leaders from the non-BJP bloc.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar would take oath at 12.30 pm on Saturday at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel reaches Bengaluru to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new Karnataka cabinet on Saturday. 

“In our first cabinet meeting, we will implement our five guarantees… We will do our job with unity…It’s not DK Shivakumar’s guarantee or Siddaramaiah’s guarantee, it’s the Congress party’s guarantee, we will fulfil that,” said DK Shivakumar.

Lobbying for 34-member cabinet started as soon as the Congress high command declared Siddaramaiah as the CM and DK Shivakumar his deputy. Read more

The swearing-in ceremony will take place at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.

Amid reports of him being upset over the denial of the deputy chief ministerial post, Karnataka Congress MLA G Parameshwara on Friday said that it is time to forget the "individual aspirations" as the "party is supreme" for him.

Five guarantees promised by Congress during the campaign are 200 units of free power, ₹2,000 for the woman head of a family, 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household, ₹3,000 a month for unemployed degree holders, and ₹1,500 a month for diploma holders for two years and free bus rides for women.

The Karnataka logjam over the CM race between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar ended on Thursday with DK Shivakumar agreeing to the formula that Siddaramaiah will be the chief minister with DK Shivakumar as his only deputy chief minister. Read more

Telangana Chief Minister and BRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP leader Y S Jagan Mohan and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have not been sent any invitations.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has extended the invitation to several chief ministers and party leaders including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K 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 have also been sent to National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah.

Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar on Friday said that he was invited by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and he will be participating in the swearing-in ceremony of the Karnataka Chief Minister scheduled on May 20.

Leaders of several like-minded opposition parties are likely to attend the swearing in ceremony of Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday in Bengaluru. 

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee will not be attending the swearing-in ceremony and has designated party leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar for the programme.

Some prominent names included former Karnataka Congress chief and ex-deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, Lingayat leader M B Patil, senior Congressman and former minister KJ George, they said.

Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Roopa Shashidhar, the daughter of former Union minister K H Muniyappa, Karnataka Congress working president Eshwara Khandre, former minister Tanveer Sait, senior leader Krishna Byre Gowda and Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council B K Hariprasad are among the names considered, the sources said.

Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister-designate D K Shivakumar have discussed the modalities of cabinet formation in the state with the party leadership in Delhi and are learnt to have shortlisted some names of ministers and their portfolios.

In light of the oath-taking ceremony that is being held in a grand manner, Bengaluru traffic police on Friday issued a fresh traffic advisory to ensure smooth flow of traffic and avoid inconvenience to the students and commuters. Read more

Karnataka CM-designate Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar held meetings with leaders of the Congress high command to finalise names of ministers to be inducted into the cabinet, people familiar with the developments said on Friday. Read more