In a show of opposition unity, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka Chief Minister on Saturday.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi was not present during the ceremony at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, where D K Shivakumar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister and eight MLAs as Cabinet Ministers.
The PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states — Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) and Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) –, and Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) were also present.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, actor-politician Kamal Haasan, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI General Secretary D Raja too were present.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, was conspicuous by her absence at the event, which was attended by tens of thousands of people as the Congress sought to promote opposition unity.
Banerjee has designated TMC Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar for the programme.
“Banerjee skipping the event has come as some kind of a dampener, especially after her recent statement that in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, her party will support the Congress where it is strong,” a Congress leader said.
“Wherever the Congress is strong, let them fight. We will give them support; there is nothing wrong (in that). But they also have to support other political parties,” Banerjee said recently.
Former Union Minister M Veerappa Moily said on Friday the swearing-in ceremony could also be a launchpad for opposition unity and demonstration of strength and solidarity.
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the five ‘guarantees’ promised by the party before the elections in Karnataka will be implemented within a few hours after the first Cabinet meeting.
He also said the people of Karnataka defeated BJP’s “hatred and corruption” in the Assembly elections.
“I had said we don’t make false promises. We do what we say. The first cabinet meeting of the new government will take place in one to two hours. In that meeting, all the five ‘guarantees’ will become a law,” Gandhi said after the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister.
Gandhi also said the Congress won the election because it had “truth and the backing of poor people” by its side whereas the BJP had “money, power and police.”
“However, the people defeated the BJP, their corruption and hatred in the election. As we had said in our Padayatra, love won and the hatred lost,” Gandhi said.
He also expressed his gratitude to the people of Karnataka for their wholehearted support to the Congress.
Calling the newly formed Congress government in Karnataka as “a government of love”, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge assured that all the five promises made to the people ahead of polls will be implemented.
He also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the RBI’s announcement on the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation, terming it as another “note bandi” to trouble the people.
“Modi has issued another new order. Whenever he goes to Japan, he will issue a ‘note bandi’ notification and go. When he went to Japan last time he had done a Rs 1,000 note bandi. This time when he has gone he has done Rs 2,000 note bandi,” Kharge said, in a jibe at the Prime Minister.
