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As many as eight Congress MLAs were sworn in as ministers in the Karnataka Cabinet during the oath-taking ceremony in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office and secrecy to the MLAs at the swearing-in ceremony held at the jam-packed Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge''s son Priyank Kharge, party''s MLAs G Parameshwara and MB Patil were among the eight MLAs. The other MLAs who took oath included KH Muniyappa, KJ George, Satish Jarkiholi, Ramalinga Reddy and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan. Congress leader Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka for the second time on Saturday after the party''s thumping victory in the Assembly elections. This is the same stadium where Siddaramaiah took oath in 2013 when he became Chief Minister for the first time. DK Shivakumar was sworn in as sole Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. Top brass of the Congress party including the Gandhi family members - Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, party''s national president Mallikarjun Kharge were present on the occasion. The Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled states including Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel attended the event. The party had also sent an invitation to numerous opposition parties and their leaders. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Deputy Tejashwi Yadav, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah were also present during the swearing-in ceremony. Other opposition leaders who were present include Sharad Pawar, and Kamal Haasan. Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan attends the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected Karnataka Government in Bengaluru. Ahead of the ceremony, Rahul Gandhi, Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah were seen holding each other''s hands in the air as a show of strength and unity. 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 in the results declared on May 13. (ANI)
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