The swearing-in of Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister of Karnataka turned into a show of Opposition unity as most leading leaders attended the ceremony.
From Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, the oath-taking ceremony in Bengaluru was attended by a host of Opposition leaders on Saturday.
While Siddaramaiah took oath as the Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar was sworn-in as Deputy Chief Minister. He also continues to the state party unit chief.
Following Congress party's victory in Karnataka, the Opposition parties have signalled they are willing to accept a significant role of the party in the national political arena. The convergence of Opposition leaders in Karnataka at the swearing-in ceremony is being seen as a show of Opposition unity.
Here are all the leaders who attended Siddaramaiah's oath-taking ceremony.
The Congress brass in Bengaluru
Top Congress leaders were present in Karnataka at Siddaramaiah's swearing-in ceremony. These included party president Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Former party chief and Rahul and Priyanka's mother Sonia Gandhi was absent.
Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states were also states, which included Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh, and Sukhvinder Singh Sukku of Himachal Pradesh. While Sukhu became CM last year, Gehlot and Baghel are both up for reelection in assembly elections slated for later this year.
Rahul on Saturday said that the Congress government would make the party's give electoral promises into law in the Cabinet's first meeting.
Opposition leaders at Siddaramaiah's swearing-in
Congress chief Kharge had invited leaders of several like-minded parties for the swearing-in ceremony.
Following were the key Opposition leaders who attended the event:
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin
- Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren
- Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav
- NCP President Sharad Pawar
- National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah
- PDP chief Mahbooba Mufti
- Actor-politician Kamal Haasan,
- CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury
- CPI General Secretary D Raja
(With PTI inputs)
