Before the Lok Sabha elections, efforts are being made for opposition unity. The Congress has invited leaders of like-minded parties for the swearing-in ceremony to be held in Karnataka on May 20. Siddaramaiah will take oath as Chief Minister and DK Shivakumar as Deputy CM. According to sources, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav have been invited for the swearing-in ceremony. Apart from this, Congress has also invited Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar.
According to news agency ANI, invitations have also been sent to like-minded opposition parties and their leaders, including Hemant Soren, Sitaram Yechury, Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Other opposition leaders invited include Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Gandhi family including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will also be present on this occasion. By bringing together the leaders of all the opposition parties on one platform, the Congress is preparing to give a big message of opposition unity.
Chief Ministers of Congress ruled states including Himachal CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel will also be present. Meanwhile, after the announcement of the chief ministerial candidate for Karnataka, Congress leader Siddaramaiah spoke to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot over phone on Thursday. Raj Bhavan sources said the swearing-in ceremony will take place on May 20 at 12.30 pm in Bengaluru, for which Congress MLA G Parameshwara went to the Raj Bhavan as the party’s representative and met the Governor.
Sources told ANI that Karnataka Chief Minister-designate Siddaramaiah spoke to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot over phone. Siddaramaiah wished him on his birthday and discussed the date of the swearing-in ceremony. The ceremony will be held on May 20 at 12.30 pm. Sources said, “Congress MLA Ji Parameshwara went to the Raj Bhavan as a representative of the Congress party and met Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot and informed about the formation of government by the Congress party which will win 135 seats in the 2023 elections.”
Congress stakes claim to form government
Siddaramaiah was formally elected as the leader and Chief Minister of Karnataka at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on Thursday, following which Siddaramaiah met Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to stake claim to form the government. The Congress central leadership on Thursday announced that Siddaramaiah would be the chief minister, while state party president DK Shivakumar would be the only deputy chief minister. AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and two other central observers — former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh — also attended the meeting of newly elected Congress MLAs, MLCs and MPs at Indira Gandhi Bhavan here.
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