BENGALURU: With the stage set to herald a new regime, Congress is likely to induct at least 10-12 ministers into the cabinet at the swearing-in at 12.30pm Saturday, along with Siddaramaiah who will take oath as chief minister and DK Shivakumar as his deputy.
Siddaramaiah is a former chief minister and nine-time MLA. Shivakumar, an eight-time MLA, will take over as deputy CM for the first time.
The Congress Legislature Party, which met for the second time in five days on Thursday evening, unanimously elected Siddaramaiah as their leader and KPCC president Shivakumar as deputy.
The oath-taking will be held at Kanteerava Stadium. The names of probable ministers have not been finalised.
At the CLP meeting, projecting a sense of unity after days of acrimony, Shivakumar proposed the name of Siddaramaiah. It was seconded by G Parameshwara, HK Patil, KH Muniyappa, RV Deshpande, MB Patil, Laxmi Hebbalkar and Tanveer Sait.
The duo, along with a dozen Congress MLAs, met governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and staked claim to form the government. Prior to this, former deputy CM G Parameshwara went to Raj Bhavan and met the governor as a Congress representative .
Ministers to be inducted in 2 batches before session
Multiple Congress sources confirmed that the CM’s post will be shared by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for 30 months each, besides the latter continuing as the KPCC president till the next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar will leave for New Delhi on Friday to discuss the contours of cabinet formation and return in the evening. Ministers will be inducted in two batches before the legislative assembly session in June, where Siddaramaiah is expected to present his 14th budget.
On taking the oath, the new cabinet will approve the five guarantees promised in the Congress poll manifesto. Later, the schemes will be launched in a massive public event to be attended by former AICC president Rahul Gandhi and national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi.
Congress has invited likeminded opposition parties. While AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge has extended a formal invitation to all prominent leaders and CMs, Siddaramaiah reportedly called up MK Stalin over the phone and invited him to participate in the swearing-in ceremony. The Gandhi family will be present in full strength.
Prior to the CLP meeting, both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were given a rousing welcome by hundreds of party workers outside the KPCC office on Queen’s Road. The party office wore a festive look as it was decorated with flowers and lights. Supporters of both leaders raised slogans in their favour. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar arrived together on a special flight from Delhi, but travelled in separate vehicles to the Congress headquarters to attend the legislature party meeting.
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