Siddaramaiah takes oath as Karnataka CM; DK Shivakumar as his deputy

Bengaluru: Siddaramaiah Saturday took oath as Karnataka Chief Minister for the second term at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, where he took oath in 2013, when he became Chief Minister for the first time.

Along with Siddaramaiah, state Congress President D K Shivakumar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister, and eight legislators as Ministers, exactly a week after the party swept the Assembly polls in Karnataka.

The Legislators who were sworn in as Ministers are: G Parameshwara (SC), K H Muniyappa (SC), K J George (Minority-Christian), M B Patil (Lingayat), Satish Jarkiholi (ST-Valmiki), Priyank Kharge (SC and AICC President M Mallikarjun Kharge's son), Ramalinga Reddy (Reddy), and B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan (Minority-Muslim).

Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress Presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, also General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, several Congress Chief Ministers and leaders attended the event.

Several prominent opposition leaders also attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Prominent among those are Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and former Jammu & Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah, the sources said.

The Congress on Thursday named Siddaramaiah as the next Chief Minister and Shivakumar, a strong contender for the top post, as his only deputy, ending the tense deadlock after prolonged parleys involving its central leadership.

A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) later on Thursday formally elected Siddaramaiah as its leader and Chief Minister, following which he staked his claim with the Governor, who invited him to form the government.

Congress said that at the first cabinet meeting after the swearing-in, the new government will take measures to implement the five 'guarantees'.

The Congress has promised to implement the 'guarantees' — 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti), on the very first day of assuming power in the state.

"Fulfilling the promises made to the people is our first priority," the Deputy Chief Minister-designate Shivakumar said on Friday.