After Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the new government would make the party's five 'guarantees' promised before elections into law.
While Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. He is also the President of Karnataka Congress.
In the run-up to elections, Congress had made five promises to the voters:
- 200 units of free power to all households
- Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family
- 10 kg of free rice to every member of a below poverty line (BPL)
- Rs 3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders aged 18-25 for two years
- Free travel for women in public buses
Earlier too, Congress had promised that these guarantees would be implemented in the first Cabinet meeting after the swearing-in of the government.
The Congress party ousted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Karnataka in assembly elections held this month. Of the 224-member assembly, Congress won 135 seats. The victory has given hopes to the party that's looking to re-emerge as the face of the united Opposition ahead of the general elections next year.
On Saturday, eight MLAs took oath as ministers besides Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. These eight MLAs are: G Parameshwara, K H Muniyappa, K J George, M B Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank Kharge, Ramalinga Reddy, and B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan.
Siddaramaiah has become the Chief Minister of Karnataka for the second time. Shivakumar was earlier a minister during Siddaramaiah's chief ministership. He will continue as the party's state unit chief till the Lok Sabha elections next year.
(With PTI inputs)
