Amidst a massive show of Opposition strength, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Saturday sworn-in Congress leader Siddaramaiah as Karantaka Chief Minister and D K Shivakumar as Deputy Chief Minister, along with eight Cabinet Ministers in a jam-packed Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.

The eight MLAs who took oath on Saturday as ministers were highly-experienced state Congress leaders. The chief minister and his colleagues were greeted by senior Congress leaders and chief ministers of several states, just as they took oath of office at the crowded dias.

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The eight ministers included Dr G Parmeshwara, a senior former minister; K H Muniyappa, a seven-time MP and a former Union minister; K J George representing Christian community; ex-MP and five-time MLA M B Patil and a Lingayat representative; and third time MLA Priyank Kharge, son of the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.

The others who took oath as ministers were Satish Jarkiholi, Ramalinga Reddy and B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan. A lot of jostling for ministerial posts is expected in the next few days as there are stated to be 34 positions in the state’s Council of Ministers.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra; Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, NCP president Sharad Pawar, and CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury were on the dias during the oath ceremony.

In a show of unity among the Opposition parties, former J&K Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, and CPI general secretary D Raja were also present on the dias along with Congress Chief Ministers Bupesh Baghel of Chhatisgarh and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of Himachal Pradesh.

After taking oath, Siddaramaiah shook hands with Sukhu, Stalin and Baghel, while Shivakumar shook hands with Farooq before the oath. The new Cabinet gave representation to scheduled castes and other communities.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave the event a miss. Among the special invitees was actor and politician Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan.

Just as the ceremony was over Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi addressed the gathering from the dias itself and said the five promises made by the party before the polls would be approved at the first Cabinet meeting of the new Government.

Gandhi said, “We will give you a clean, non-corrupt government.”

He further said that the state and its people like Dalits had suffered. The Congress stood with truth and the poor and won against the BJP which had money, police and everything else. The people defeated them and their corruption and hatred, he said.

Gandhi assured that the five promises made by the party would be approved at the first meeting of the State Cabinet. These were, he summarised, Grihlaxmi scheme of Rs 5,000 per month to housewives; Grihjyoti of free 200 units of power; 10 kg of rice for every family; free travel for women and unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month to graduates and Rs 1500 to diploma holders.

The Congress leader declared, “Nafrat ko mitaya, Mohabbat jeeti.” He said lakhs of shops of love have opened in Karnataka. This is a government of the people of the state and the Congress will work with determination for them.

Speaking on the occasion, Kharge criticised the decision to withdraw the Rs 2000 currency note saying it would only give trouble to people. He noted that this is the second time that the prime minister has gone to Japan and a currency decision was taken.

The Congress chief assured that the Congress government in the state will deliver all the promises made to the people.

On his turn, Chief Minister Siddarmaiah pointed out that people wanted change.

The new chief minister announced that the five guarantees would be approved on Saturday itself. “We will issue notifications for the five guarantees. Everything we promised in the election manifesto would be implemented,” he said.