Karnataka: After hectic parleys, Siddaramaiah takes oath as CM, DK Shivakumar as deputy

A week since it secured a thumping victory over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by prime minister Narendra Modi in the elections, the Indian National Congress formed its new government in the southern Indian state of Karnataka on Saturday (20).

Siddaramaiah, who served as the chief minister between 2013 and 2018, took oath for his second term while DK Shivakumar, who was a strong contender for the top job but eventually settled for the No.2 position, took oath as the deputy chief minister. It took days of hectic parleys and talks for the party to arrive at a decision to pick Siddaramaiah as the chief minister.

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The swearing-in ceremony took place at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in state capital Bengaluru and it was attended by a number of top leaders of the Congress such as national president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as well as heavyweights from other opposition parties such as Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of the state of Bihar; Tejaswi Yadav, the deputy chief minister of Bihar; MK Stalin, the chief minister of the state of Tamil Nadu; Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Siyaram Yechuri; Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, among others.

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The oath of office was administered to the chief minister and his deputy by the governor of Karnataka, Thaawarchand Gehlot.

A number of big names from the celebrity world were also present, including Tamil actor Kamal Haasan; actors-turned-politicians Ramya and Umashree; film director and producer V Rajendra Singh Babu; among others.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar joined their hands and waved at the crowd when they arrived at the venue.

Later, Rahul Gandhi joined the duo as the crowd cheered.

Later, Gandhi said in a tweet, "Great to be back among the people of Karnataka. Looking forward to the swearing in ceremony of the new Congress government, which will be a people centric government, focussed on bringing progress."

The Congress won 135 out of 224 seats in the Karnataka assembly in the elections held on May 10 to end the run of the previous BJP government.