More than a lakh to attend K’taka CM’s swearing-In event

BENGALURU: The Congress is expecting over one lakh people at Siddaramaiah’s swearing-in ceremony on Saturday here and arrangements are in full swing.

Kanteerava Stadium, the venue of the swearing-in event, has seating capacity for more than 25,000 people. The authorities are planning to accommodate others in the playground. Siddaramaiah had taken oath in the same venue as the CM in 2013.

The official circular confirmed the participation of 11 VVIPs in the event. Congress’ former Presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Puducherry CM N. Rangaswamy and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren are taking part in the event. West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee has also been invited but reports said that she has deputed her party MP for the event.

Siddaramaiah will be taking oath as the Chief Minister while D.K. Shivakumar will be sworn-in as the Deputy Chief Minister at 12.30 p.m.

According to sources, Kannada superstar Shivaraj Kumar, who had campaigned for Congress party, has also been invited to the function.

Preparations were kept in mind in view of the ‘Z’ plus and ‘Z’ category security for the CMs of various states and Congress dignitaries. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will be deputed to ensure security. An Advance Security Liaison (ASL) meeting is being conducted to ensure foolproof security.

The Karnataka Police have deputed 12 ACPs, 11 reserve police inspectors, 24 ASIs, 206 constables for security.

Meanwhile, Additional Commissioner for Traffic M.A. Saleem has announced prohibitory orders around the 122 examination centers of Bengaluru where the Common Entrance Test (CET) is conducted.

The CET will be attended by more than two lakh students across the state. The exams will be conducted throughout the days on May 20 and 21. Due to the swearing-in ceremony, the students were asked to reach examination centers earlier.

The Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) Executive Director Ramya stated that all preparations are made for the CET exams. Students who are writing exams in the centers located near the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, where the swearing in ceremony is taking place should reach two hours earlier, she added. She noted that those students who have exams in the noon might get stuck in the traffic and they should start much earlier.

The students are being sent bulk messages and also informed over the phone. The traffic police will take action to avoid inconvenience to students, Ramya stated.

Meanwhile, Deputy CM designate and Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar along with other leaders paid a visit to the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium and inspected the preparations.