Team Blitz India
BENGALURU: Siddaramaiah was sworn in as Chief Minister for the second term, along with state Congress President D K Shivakumar as Deputy Chief Minister, and eight legislators as Ministers on May 20, exactly a week after the party won the Assembly polls in Karnataka.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Chief Minister and his Cabinet at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, where Siddaramaiah had taken oath in 2013, when he became Chief Minister for the first time.
Those sworn in as Ministers are G Parameshwara, K H Muniyappa, K J George, M B Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge (AICC President M Mallikarjun Kharge’s son), Ramalinga Reddy, and B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan.
Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attended the event. Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukku (Himachal Pradesh) and several top party leaders were also in attendance along with leaders of certain other non-BJP parties.
The 75-year old Siddaramaiah has become the Chief Minister for the second term after his earlier five-year stint from 2013; while 61-year old Shivakumar, who had earlier worked as Minister under Siddaramaiah, will also continue as the party’s Karnataka state president till the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.