Posters featuring Gandhis, Siddaramaiah, DKS put up in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony in Karnataka, posters with the Gandhi family, Chief Minister-designate Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM-designate DK Shivakumar were put up in Bengaluru.

The posters of former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, current party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, party's national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other leaders were also seen.

Congress veteran Siddaramaiah will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka for the second term on Saturday afternoon, along with Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar as his sole deputy.

Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the CM and his cabinet at the swearing-in ceremony scheduled to be held at Bengaluru's Kanteerava Stadium at around 12:30 pm. Eight MLAs will also be sworn in on the occasion as ministers, Kharge said.

Congress MLAs Dr G Parameshwara, KH Muniyappa, KJ George, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge, Ramalinga Reddy and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan are expected to take oath as the ministers in the state cabinet today. "Today is the swearing-in ceremony of the CM, Deputy CM, and eight MLAs who will take oath as the ministers (in the state cabinet), everyone is attending it. I am going for the same. It is a matter of delight that a new and strong Congress government has come to power in Karnataka. This will benefit Karnataka and it is creating a good environment in the country," Kharge said while talking to ANI before leaving for Karnataka.

Congress has invited several leaders of like-minded parties to the swearing-in ceremony.

As per the sources, the invitation has been sent to like-minded opposition parties and their leaders including Hemant Soren, Sitaram Yechuri, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, and Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The Congress manifesto lists five main guarantees. "Gruha Jyoti: 200 units of free power to all households, Gruha Lakshmi: Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family, Anna Bhagya: 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household; Yuva Nidhi scheme: diploma holders will get an allowance of Rs 1,500 per month for two years, while graduates will receive Rs 3,000 per month and Shakti: Free bus rides for all women in the state".

Congress bagged 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ousting the BJP, which got 66 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats in the results declared on May 13.