Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shivakumar and eight other cabinet ministers took oath of office on Saturday at a public event that doubled as a show of Opposition unity in the run-up to next year’s general election, prompting Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin to say the “dawn” witnessed in the south should spread to the rest of the country.
Nineteen senior leaders from 17 non-Congress Opposition parties attended the swearing-in ceremony at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium amid a sea of cheering Congress supporters who had arrived from across Karnataka.
“We will never forget the love, faith and strength you gave to the Congress party. This is the government of the people of Karnataka. It is your government. We will wholeheartedly work for you,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Stalin, who attended the ceremony, tweeted: “Hearty congratulations to Hon’ble @siddaramaiah avaru (an honorific) and Hon’ble @DKShivakumar avaru on taking oath as the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, respectively.”
The Tamil Nadu chief minister said he sincerely believed that the “secular duo” would take Karnataka to newer heights through their able administration.
“The dawn heralded in the south should spread to the rest of India and today’s swearing-in ceremony in Bengaluru is a bellwether of such change,” Stalin added.
Besides Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, eight ministers representing almost all the state’s major communities took oath on Saturday.
G. Parameshwara, K.H. Muniyappa and Priyank Kharge were from the Scheduled Castes; Satish Jarkiholi was from the Scheduled Tribes; and K.J. George and Zameer Ahmed Khan represented the religious minorities.
M.B. Patil, a Lingayat, has been rewarded for his help in mobilising votes from his community, which had for years backed the BJP. Ramalinga Reddy represented the influential Reddy community.
Parameshwara and Patil are believed to have been eyeing the deputy chief minister’s post.
Shivakumar will continue to head the state Congress until the 2024 Lok Sabha polls so that he can continue the good work that fetched the party 135 of the state’s 224 Assembly seats in the May 10 elections.
Shivakumar had earlier been energy minister when Siddaramaiah helmed a Congress government from 2013 to 2018.
More ministers will be inducted in the coming days after taking into consideration regional and other factors. The cabinet has a sanctioned strength of 34, including the chief minister.
Nine-time legislator R.V. Deshpande will be the pro-tem Speaker of the Assembly.
While swearing-in ceremonies are usually devoid of speeches, the Congress turned the event into a political statement with Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, Rahul and party national president Mallikarjun Kharge speaking briefly to reiterate that all the poll promises would be fulfilled.
Rahul announced that the five guarantees the party had given would be approved by the cabinet when it met later in the day, drawing cheers from the about 35,000 assembled Congress workers.
“I had said that we don’t make false promises. We will do what we say. In one or two hours the first cabinet meeting will be held. In that cabinet meeting all these five promises will become law,” Rahul announced.
The five guarantees are: 200 free units of power for all households under the Gruha Jyothi scheme; Rs 2,000 a month for each woman head of the family under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme; 10kg free rice per month for each individual in a BPL family under the Anna Bhagya scheme; free travel for women in government buses across Karnataka under the Uchita Prayana scheme; and a monthly unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 for graduates and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders — for up to two years or until they find a job, whichever is earlier — under the Yuva Nidhi programme.
“The objective of this government is to protect our farmers, labourers, small traders, youth and secure their future. We will give you a clean and non-corrupt government,” Rahul added.
Additional reporting by PTI
