HD Kumaraswamy takes oath as the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka

PTI

Bengaluru, 23 May 2018: Karnataka gets a new Chief Minister as H D Kumaraswamy takes oath, administered by governor Vala.

 

H D Kumaraswamy takes oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka in the name of the people of Karnataka and God. Alongside, Congress’ Dalit leader Parameshwara is being administered oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka.

 

 

Other members of the council of ministers will be inducted after the Kumaraswamy government wins the trust vote on Friday.

 

Attired in the traditional "dhoti" and white shirt, Kumaraswamy took the oath in the name of God and the people of "Kannada Nadu".

 

 

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, N Chandrababu Naidu, and Pinarayi Vijayan, her counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala respectively, were present.

 

Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, BSP chief Mayawati and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, who have struck an alliance in Uttar Pradesh, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, and socialist leader Sharad Yadav were also in attendance.

 

The show of strength by a galaxy of national leaders and regional satraps is being seen as a strong signal to the BJP about the possibility of formation of a broad-based front to take on the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha polls next year.

 

Kumaraswamy will have a 34-member Cabinet — 12 JD(S) ministers and 22 from the Congress. The BJP, in the interim, is protesting across Karnataka naming May 24 as a ’black day for democracy’.