Bengaluru: JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy was Wednesday sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka in Bengaluru where, in a show of unity ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, more than a dozen Opposition leaders were invited.
G Parameshwara, the state Congress chief and the party’s Dalit face, was sworn in as Deputy CM at the grand event, which was attended by five chief ministers — Mamata Banerjee, Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal, Narayanswamy and Pinarayi Vijayan. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury also attended the event.
Also invited were Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati, who have already contested Lok Sabha bypolls in alliance in Uttar Pradesh.
While the BJP, whose leader B S Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as CM and resigned 55 hours later, boycotted the oath-taking ceremony and observed a “black day” across the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Kumaraswamy. “I congratulate Shri @hd_kumaraswamyJi and @DrParameshwaraji on taking oath as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. My best wishes for their tenure ahead,” he tweeted.
Kumaraswamy swearing-in: BJD maintains equal distance from Congress, BJP HD Kumaraswamy (L), leader of Janata Dal (Secular) is administered the oath as Chief Minister of Karnataka. (REUTERS)
The swearing in of Kumaraswamy and his deputy Parameshwara marked the assumption of office of a JD(S)-Congress coalition in Karnataka following the hung verdict in the elections. The new Kumaraswamy led JDS-Congress government replaces the BJP government of B S Yeddyurappa which assumed office on May 17 and exited office on May 19 after failing to muster the numbers for a simple majority.
The JDS-Congress combine which currently has 118 MLAs on its side (JD(S): 37, Congress: 78 and three Others) will face a trust vote on May 25 in the state legislature to establish its majority in the 222-member House. The BJP has 104 seats.
Speaking after taking oath as CM, Kumaraswamy said that so many leaders from the around the country had gathered to send out a message before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“The attendance of so many leaders from around the country at today’s function was not to support my government. They wanted to send a message from here to the country that in 2019 there will be a major change in the political situation in the country. They assembled here for this,” he said.
“A lot of national leaders told me after the elections that in the interest of the nation I must ally with the Congress. Today is a historic day in the history of the Karnataka government. We have probably never had a situation like this of a galaxy of leaders coming together for the oath ceremony. It is a new development.”
The leaders who assembled for the swearing in, however, conducted no formal talks but spoke informally at the Vidhana Soudha banquet hall after the ceremony.
Kumaraswamy, who held some discussions with the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday night said he had been advised by her on his future in Karnataka politics.
He also claimed that the assembly of leaders from various parties opposed to the BJP was very different from previous shows of Opposition unity, which petered out after the initial enthusiasm like an effort to create a third front from Karnataka by his father H D Devegowda in the run-up to the 2009 parliament polls.
“The situation in the country is very different from what it was in 2009 and there is scope for unity among opposition parties,’’ he said.
The new Karnataka Chief Minister also said that his government would not focus on issues like separate religion status for the Veerashaiva Lingayats which was backed by the previous Congress government. “The Veerashaiva Lingayat issue is not of great importance… There are bigger issues before the state,’’ he said.
