Karnataka swearing-in Highlights: 3-day Legislative Assembly session from Monday, says CM Siddaramaiah

The Congress has sent invitation to a number of opposition parties including and their leaders for the oath-taking ceremony. These include Hemant Soren, Sitaram Yechuri, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, and Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Congress MLA MB Patil said that all communities including Lingayat and Dalit need "due share" of powers in the new state government.

"...Lingayats contesting on BJP tickets have been rejected. So, naturally, when we have come towards Congress, the expectations are high. They want a due share. I am confident that our party will take care of it," he said.

Karnataka deputy CM-elect DK Shivakumar reached Bengaluru Airport to receive Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, news agency PTI reported. 

Did he want to become Karnataka deputy chief minsiter? Sure. 

But Congress MLA G Parameshwara said that it is time to forget the "individual aspirations" as the "party is supreme" for him, adding that that there is a need to "look forward" with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections coming.

"This is the time when we all have to work together. This is the time when we should forget our individual aspirations. This is the time when we should fulfil the promises made to people...As I said, the party is supreme. So, we need to look forward. There is the 2024 Lok Sabha election. We have to consider those things as well," G Parameshwara said.

He will be sworn in as a minister in the Karnataka cabinet today.

The provision of cabinet berths to MB Patil and Parameshwara comes amid reports that MB Patil, a Lingayat leader, and G Parameshwara, a Dalit leader, were upset over the denial of deputy chief minister posts.

Priyank Kharge, son of Conrgess president Mallikarjun Kharge will be the youngest minister in the 8 who will take oath along with Karnataka CM-designate Siddaramaiah, and his deputy DK Shivakumar today.

Eight MLAs will be sworn in as ministers in the state cabinet during the oath-taking ceremony in Karnataka. According to a letter to the governor by the Karnataka Congress Legislative Party dated May 20, these include Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank Kharge, G Parameshwara, MB Patil, 7-time MP KH Muniyappa, KJ George, Satish Jarkiholi, Ramalinga Reddy and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan.

TMC Rajya Sabha party leader Derek O' Brien tweeted, "The CM designate of Karnataka Mr Siddaramaiah & his other colleagues called to personally invite @AITCofficialChairperson & Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for swearing-in tomorrow. She conveyed her best wishes & designated @kakoligdastidar#TMC Deputy Leader in LS to attend ceremony," 

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee may have been "privately' invited to the ceremony. Will she grace it?

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Odisha's Naveen Patnaik, Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal, K Chandrashekar Rao of Telangana and Andhra CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy will not be at the ceremony. 

Karnataka Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain, who oversaw the guest list, said invitations were sent “only to CMs of Congress-governed states and UPA partners”. 

Kannada actor Shivaraj Kumar, who had campaigned for Congress, is expected at the swearing-in event.

Among the Congress CMs in attendance will be Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of Himachal Pradesh. 

A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) 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.

Karnataka chief minister designate Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday evening. Both leaders were in Delhi to discuss the cabinet formation.

DK Shivakumar said that they have come to personally invite the senior leaders to the ceremony.

"We have come to meet our leaders, Rahul Ji, Sonia Ji, Priyanka Ji, and Kharge Ji to invite our leaders for tomorrow. They had come and given their sweat and proper directions. So, I wanted to invite them personally. Later, we are discussing the cabinet formation," Shivakumar said, adding, "After all, the five guarantees that have been promised are no DK Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah guarantees, these are Congress guarantees. These guarantees were given by our leaders. And as our senior leaders said we want the guarantees to be passed in the first cabinet meeting"

What's happening: Siddharamaiah will be sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka for the second term this afternoon, along with Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar as his sole deputy.

Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the CM and his cabinet at the swearing-in ceremony. 

Where and when: It is scheduled to be held at Bengaluru's Kanteerava Stadium at around 12:30 pm.

Hindustan Times reports: Eight MLAs will also be sworn in as ministers too.

Stay tuned for more

A total of three platforms/ stages have been set up at the stadium and LED screens have been installed for people to watch the swearing-in ceremony. It is Congress' and Siddaramaiah's big moment. So why not?

The first daunting task that Siddaramaiah is expected to face is putting in place a Cabinet with the right combinations that strikes a balance in having representatives from all communities, regions, factions, and also from among the old and new generation of legislators. With the sanctioned strength of the Karnataka cabinet being 34, there are too many aspirants for ministerial berths.

Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) criticised the Congress for not inviting the state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to the swearing-in ceremony. The move shows Congress' immature politics and weakness, LDF said. 

Siddaramaiah slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the Reserve Bank of India's move to withdraw ₹2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation. RBI announced that it has decided to withdraw the ₹2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation but they will continue to remain legal tender.

"Another note ban by @narendramodi. Sad that the @BJP4India govt does not have clarity about their own policies. Why did they introduce ₹2,000 notes in 2016 if they had plans to ban it? This is BJP's desperate attempt to divert the attention from their failures. #NoteBan," Siddaramaiah tweeted.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, who recently met Maharashtra Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai, have also been extended an invitation to the swearing-in ceremony. Will they attend?

The Congress manifesto listed five main guarantees. "Gruha Jyoti: 200 units of free power to all households, Gruha Lakshmi: ₹2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family, Anna Bhagya: 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household; Yuva Nidhi scheme: diploma holders will get an allowance of ₹1,500 per month for two years, while graduates will receive ₹3,000 per month and Shakti: Free bus rides for all women in the state".

Election-winning moves, these! 

Congress bagged 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka assembly ousting BJP. The latter got 66 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats.

Before leaving for Karnataka after a week in which he convinced DKS to take the deputy chief minister position, Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Today is the swearing-in ceremony of the CM, Deputy CM, and eight MLAs who will take oath as the ministers (in the state cabinet), everyone is attending it. I am going for the same. It is a matter of delight that a new and strong Congress government has come to power in Karnataka. This will benefit Karnataka and it is creating a good environment in the country."