Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to skip the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, which is slated for May 20 despite being invited. Congress has invited the Chief Ministers of several opposition states, including Mamata Banerjee, on Thursday. Banerjee may send a representative for the oath ceremony to be held in Bengaluru, according to official sources.
Political circles believe that the picture of the opposition alliance can be seen in Karnataka with this swearing-in ceremony. State secretariat Nabanna sources said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been invited to the oath ceremony of the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Banerjee has accepted the invitation, but will not attend the swearing-in ceremony.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will take oath on Saturday at 12 pm. The other top leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, will attend the swearing-in ceremony. Leaders, including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have been invited.
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AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said, "We will invite the leaders of like-minded parties." In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, the Congress scored an emphatic victory by bagging 135 seats, while the ruling BJP secured 66 seats. The Congress on Thursday announced Siddaramaiah as the next Chief Minister of Karnataka and state party president DK Shivakumar as his only deputy in the soon-to-be-formed Cabinet. The two leaders, who were in a tight race for the top post, would take the oath, along with other ministers, on May 20.
