Bengaluru: Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar took oath as Karnataka Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively, at a mega swearing-in ceremony at Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday.
The oath was administered by Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot.
This is the second term as CM for 75-year-old Siddaramaiah after his earlier five-year stint from 2013, while 61-year-old Shivakumar had earlier worked as minister under Siddaramaiah.
Shivakumar will also continue to be Karnataka Congress President till 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Along with Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, eight legislators were sworn-in as ministers.
The ministers are: G Parameshwara (SC), KH Muniyappa (SC), KJ George (Minority-Christian), MB Patil (Lingayat), Satish Jarkiholi (ST-Valmiki), Priyank Kharge (SC), Ramalinga Reddy (Reddy), and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan (Minority-Muslim).
The first daunting task Siddaramaiah faces is getting cabinet combinations right by having representatives from all communities, regions, factions, and also from among the old and new generation of legislators.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by AICC President Mallikarjuna Kharge and the Gandhi siblings Rahul and Priyanka. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde also attended the ceremony.
It was also attended by Congress CMs Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of Himachal Pradesh.
Other notable names who attended the ceremony were NC Chief Farooq Abdullah, PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti, CPI’s D Raja, CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
Karnataka Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain, who oversaw the guest list, said invitations were sent only to CMs of Congress-governed states and UPA partners, and hence names of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal, K Chandrashekar Rao of Telangana and Andhra CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy were excluded.
Actor and Makkal Neethi Maiam Chief Kamal Haasan and Kannada actor Shivaraj Kumar, who had campaigned for Congress, also attended the event.
