TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar to attend Siddaramaiah's swearing-in as Karnataka CM on behalf of Mamata Banerjee

Congress invited Mamata Banerjee for the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar.

"The CM designate of Karnataka Siddaramaiah and his other colleagues called to personally invite All India Trinamool Congress Chairperson and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for swearing-in tomorrow. She conveyed her best wishes and designated Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar TMC Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha to attend the ceremony," tweeted TMC MP Derek O'Brien.

The oath ceremony will take place on Saturday in Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru.

Congress on Thursday invited the leaders of like-minded parties to the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar scheduled on May 20, sources said on Thursday.

According to sources, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, who recently met Maharashtra Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar recently in Mumbai, have also been extended an invitation at the swearing-in ceremony.

Sources said that the invitation has also been sent to like-minded opposition parties and their leaders including Hemant Soren, Sitaram Yechuri, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, and Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Among other opposition leaders who have been invited include Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The Gandhi family including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will also be present on the occasion.

Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled states including Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel will also be present.

After days of deliberation, Congress on Thursday announced that party leader Siddaramaiah will be the next Karnataka Chief Minister and DK Shivakumar will be Deputy Chief Minister.

Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal made the announcement at the party headquarters in the national capital.

He said Shivakumar will continue as state Congress chief till the Lok Sabha polls. He will be the only Deputy chief minister.

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Thursday invited Chief Minister-designate Siddaramaiah to take oath on Saturday.

Congress bagged 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ousting the ruling BJP, which got 66 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats (ANI)