Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy took oath as Karnataka chief minister on Wednesday, a week after the state election threw up a hung assembly and resulted in BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa serving as chief minister for a little over two days.
The ceremony was attended by a host of opposition leaders and chief ministers, a development that could plant a seed for a broad-based anti-BJP front before the Lok Sabha election next year.
Karnataka Congress president G Parameshwara was also sworn-in as the deputy chief minister and Ramesh Kumar, a former minister and Congress leader, will be the next assembly speaker.
The Congress will have 22 ministers and the JD(S) 12, AICC general secretary in-charge of the state KC Venugopal said, adding that they would be sworn-in after the floor test slated for Friday.
Follow live updates here:
6:15pm: ‘This coalition government (Congress-JD(S)) will run better than any one party government and we will concentrate on working for the public. We have decided to work together for the betterment of the state,’ says newly sworn-in Karnataka chief minister Kumaraswamy.
5:40pm: CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury congratulates Kumaraswamy and Parameshwara in a tweet. ‘Parties from all over India stand with you. May this be the first step towards ensuring BJP and RSS don’t steal elections,’ he says.
4:37pm:
Bengaluru: JD(S)'s HD Kumaraswamy with Governor Vajubhai Vala, after taking oath as Chief Minister of Karnataka at Vidhana Soudha. pic.twitter.com/JAI7DNbdfG
— ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2018
4:36pm: Congress leader G Parameshwara takes oath as deputy chief minister of Karnataka.
4:33pm: JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy takes oath as chief minister, administered by Governor Vajubhai Vala.
4:22pm: JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda, HD Kumaraswamy’s brother HD Revanna, G Parameshwara, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi among other leaders reach Vidhana Soudha.
4:18pm: JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy arrives at the Vidhana Soudha.
4:15pm: Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati reach Vidhana Soudha ahead of the swearing-in ceremony.
4:00pm:
Bengaluru: Visuals from Vidhana Soudha ahead of HD Kumaraswamy and G.Parameshwara's swearing in as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/18RM1PAnOk
— ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2018
3:38pm: Rains could delay swearing-in ceremony scheduled to take place in an open area in Vidhan Soudha.
3:09pm: Chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi) and Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) meet with CPM’s Sitaram Yechury ahead of the swearing-in ceremony.
2:58pm: Heavy rains lash Bengaluru.
#Karnataka: Heavy rain lashes parts of Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/sXUkiETysM
— ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2018
2:38pm: Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrive in Bengaluru for swearing-in ceremony.
2:20pm: Congress legislator DK Shivakumar says no one in the party is unhappy and all are together. ‘We are celebrating that our government is coming to power. I never said that I’m an aspirant for Karnataka chief minister post. All is well,’ says Shivakumar ahead of Kumaraswamy swearing-in.
2:06pm: Sitaram Yechury, Sharad Pawar and Akhilesh Yadav arrive in Bengaluru to attend Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony later this evening, ANI reports.
1:28pm: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu arrive in Bengaluru. ‘We’ve come here to witness swearing in ceremony of Kumaraswamy and express our solidarity to him. In future, we’ll work together to protect and promote national interest. We’re here to strengthen all regional parties,’ Naidu and Banerjee say.
1:13pm: At a party press conference in Delhi, Congress leader Ashok Gehlot says democracy has won in Karnataka. ‘Kumaraswamy will prove majority in floor test,’ he says.
12:45pm: BJP is observing an Anti-People’s Mandate Day in Karnataka in protest against the swearing-in of Kumaraswamy and the Congress-JD(S) coalition forming the state government. ‘Hunger, greed and power is the basis of JD(S)-Congress alliance; such alliance will not even last three months,’ says former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, according to ANI.
Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa along with BJP state general secretary Shobha Karandlaje and other party supporters protest against the coalition government by Janta Dal (Secular) and Congress at Maurya Circle in Bengaluru. (Arijit Sen/HT Photo)
12:10pm: Shiv Sena says no party member will be attending Kumaraswamy’s swearing in but adds that their best wishes are with him. ‘HD Deve Gowda ji invited Uddhav ji hoping someone from us would come, but all of us are busy for Palghar Lok Sabha by-election. So we can’t go but our best wishes are with him,’ Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut tells ANI.
11:12am: Kumaraswamy says, ‘All the promises made in the manifesto will be implemented. Safeguarding the interest of the farming community is our top priority.’
10:20am: G Parameshwar, who is set to be sworn in as deputy chief minister, thanks party leaders. Asked about Roshan Baig and DK Shivakumar also in the running for deputy CMs, Parameshwara says, ‘It’s the high command which decides all these, they chose me. I thank them immensely but the point is they’re also eligible but they gave me this opportunity,’ ANI reports.
8:41am: Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao met Kumaraswamy on Tuesday in Bengaluru to extend his greetings. Rao will not be present at the swearing-in ceremony.
8:30am: The BJP’s Karnataka unit said it would protest the state government formation by the JD(S)-Congress coalition. BJP’s Yeddyurappa was sworn in last Thursday after the governor invited him to form government. He resigned two days later ahead of a trust vote in the assembly.
8am: Celebrations begin for Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony. Folk dancers and musicians put up a street show outside his house.
#HDKumaraswamy to take oath as Chief Minister of Karnataka today. Visuals of celebrations from outside his residence in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/tz2rrenFEX
— ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2018
