Nitish, Tejashwi to attend swearing-in ceremony of Congress govt

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav will go to Bengaluru for the swearing-in ceremony of the new Congress government in Karnataka on Satursday.

The Congress has sent invitations to Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav and they have accepted it.

The swearing-in ceremony will start at 12.30 pm on May 20 where Siddaramaiah will take oath as Chief Minister and D.K. Shivakumar will take the oath of Deputy Chief Minister. Some ministers are also like to be sworn in.

The Congress is trying to give a message to the BJP about opposition unity by sending invitations to top leaders of opposition parties.

Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav are spearheading the opposition unity in the country.

They have met several leaders of the opposition parties including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of the AAP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, CPI's D Raja, CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of the BJD.

Apart from Patnaik, the other leaders have completely supported the efforts of Nitish Kumar.

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot said that he will administer oath to Chief Minister-designate Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to take oath on May 20.

"I am in receipt of your letter dated 18th May, 2023 staking claim to form the government.

"I invite you to take oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka and D.K. Shivakumar to take oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka along with team members. The oath ceremony will take place at 12.30 p.m. on May 20, 2023 in Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru," the Governor said in a communication to newly-elected leader of Congress Legislature Party Siddaramaiah.

A copy of the letter has been sent to Shivakumar.

Earlier, a Congress delegation, headed by Siddaramaiah, met the Governor and staked claim to form the government. Karnataka Congress President Shivakumar, Campaign Committee Member M.B. Patil and state in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala were present.

Congress sources confirmed that the swearing-in ceremony is going to be a mega event and Chief Ministers of eight states are invited to the programme - West Bengal's Mamta Banerjee, Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel, Bihar's Nitish Kumar, Himachal Pradesh's Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Puducherry's N. Rangaswamy, Tamil Nadu's M.K. Stalin and Jharkhand's Hemant Soren.

Sources said that more than 25 ministers will take oath on May 20. The leaders are also planning to hold a public rally following the oath taking ceremony. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are reaching New Delhi on Friday with the tentative list of cabinet ministers for final approval.