"All our 5 poll promises to become laws": Rahul Gandhi

Addressing the gathered spectators at the swearing-in ceremony at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the Siddaramaiah-led government will fulfil all five poll promises made by the party in their manifesto.

Assuring the public that the five guarantees would be fulfilled, Gandhi said, "In the first cabinet meeting of the new Karnataka government in the next two hours, all five guarantees will become a law."

Veteran Congress leader Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D.K. Shivakumar were sworn in as the next chief minister and deputy chief minister of Karnataka respectively.

The five guarantees made by the Congress are as follows:

1. Gruha Lakshmi: The scheme aims to provide ₹2,000 a month to every woman who is head of a household. "We are keeping the money in the hands of women to ensure that they're in control and in charge of their own life," says the manifesto.

2. Yuva Nidhi: This scheme aims to provide support to the youth of Karnataka for two years by paying ₹3,000 to unemployed graduates and ₹1,500 to unemployed diploma holders every month.

3. Anna Bhagya: 10 kg of rice will be provided per person, per month to families below the poverty line (BPL) under this scheme.

4. Gruha Jyothi: 200 units of free electricity will be provided for every single household in the state under this scheme.

5. Uchita Prayana/Sakhi: Free bus tickets for women to travel around the state will be provided under this scheme.

"Fulfilling the promises made to the people is our first priority," Deputy CM Shivakumar also said.

Gandhi thanked the people of the state for helping the party to come to power.

"You fully supported the Congress. After Congress's victory, many things were written as to how it won this election, different analyses were done but I want to say that Congress won because we stood with the poor, Dalits and Adivasis, Backwards. We had the truth, poor people on our side. The BJP had money, power and everything but the people of Karnataka defeated all of it," the senior party leader said.

"And [the people] also defeated [the BJP government's] corruption. They also defeated their hatred. The way in which we said during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, we wiped the hatred and brought love. In the market of hatred, we have opened several shops of love," he added.

Besides Gandhi, All-India Congress Commitee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin, former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist) aka CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D. Raja and Nationalist Congress Party veteran Sharad Pawar were among the prominent politicians present at the ceremony.

Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan, Kannada superstar Shiva Rajkumar, popular actor Duniya Vijay, actress-turned-politician Ramya (aka Divya Spandana), actress Nishvika Naidu, senior actress turned politician Umashree, and film director and producer S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu also attended the event.

Congress MLAs including G. Parameshwara, K.H. Muniyappa, K.J. George, M.B. Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge, Ramalinga Reddy and B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan were also sworn in as ministers in the Siddaramaiah cabinet.

The Congress won 135 seats in the Assembly polls, while the BJP received 66 and the Janata Dal (Secular) won 19.

With inputs from agencies