BANGALORE : Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah was today sworn in as the 22nd Chief Minister of Karnataka amidst thundering cheers from a large number of his followers.
Governor H R Bharadwaj administered him the oath of office and secrecy at an impressive function held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
The new chief minister took oath in the name of truth.
Mr Siddaramaiah’s cabinet will be inducted in two stages later.
The swearing-in cermoney lasted just five minutes. After the swearing-in, Governor Bhardwaj patted the new leader on the back.
Mr Siddaramaiah is the first leader from the Kuruba (shepherd) community and the second from Mysore region to become the CM of Karnataka.
Congress returned to power in the state after eight years securing 121 seats in the 224-member house in the May 5 Assembly elections.
The first Chief Minister from Mysore was late D Devaraj Urs who had ruled the state between March 20, 1972 and December 31, 1977 and again from March 20, 1978 to January 7, 1980.
The state had witnessed the second highest turnout of 71.29 per cent in the just concluded elections, after 71.90 in the 1978 elections. While the rest of the country rejected the Congress post emergency, Karnataka stood as an exception and voted the Congress to power back.
AICC General Secretary incharge of Karnataka, Madhasudan Mistry, Union Ministers Mallikarjuna Kharge, M Veerappa Moily, AICC leaders Oscar Fernandes and B K Hariprasad were among the Congress dignitaries present on the occasion.
Ongoing Metro rail works caused the shifting of the ceremony from the traditional venue of the portal of Vidhana Soudha and the Raj Bhavan to the huge Kanteerava Stadium.
Soon after the swearing in, Mr Siddaramaiah would visit the Vidhana Soudha to formally assume the Chair and later address top bureaucrats and police officials.
Later in the day, he was expected to depart for New Delhi to pay respects to AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.
Mr Siddaramaiah would be accompanied by Karnataka pradesh Congress Committee president G Parameshwar and the two are likely to finalise the list of ministers to be inducted. Mr Siddaramaiah had ruled out having a Deputy Chief Minister. (AGENCIES)
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