D.K. Shivakumar Sworn In As Karnataka Chief Minister

D.K. Shivakumar took oath as the 25th Chief Minister of Karnataka, and yeah it sounds like quite a bit. The swearing in ceremony happened on Wednesday evening at Lok Bhavan where everyone seemed there, Thirteen ministers were also sworn in along with him.

Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot administered the oath of office. D.K. Shivakumar took his oath while holding a copy of the Constitution, and he wore traditional silk attire during the ceremony too. Also, he took the oath in the name of his family deity, Veeragangadhara Ajjayya, in a sort of deliberate way.

Ceremony and attendees

Quite a few political leaders turned up. Chief Ministers Revanth Reddy of Telangana, V.D. Satheesan of Kerala, and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of Himachal Pradesh were present. Senior Congress leaders were in attendance as well, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge were there. K.C. Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala also showed up, and Siddaramaiah the former Karnataka Chief Minister attended the ceremony too.

Other attendees included Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka. High Court Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru was also present, along with representatives from the film, sports, and business sectors.

Before the ceremony, Shivakumar visited senior leaders H.D. Deve Gowda and B.S. Yediyurappa and asked for their blessings, basically, a customary gesture.  

Composition of the cabinet

• Thirteen ministers took oath along with the Chief Minister. Eleven of them had already served in Siddaramaiah’s previous cabinet, so it was not a complete reshuffle.
• Two ministers were new in the ministerial group. One was MLC Yathindra, the son of Siddaramaiah. The other was U.T. Khader, who served as Speaker in the previous government.
• Reports said Siddaramaiah had pushed for three Deputy Chief Ministers, but in the end only one Deputy Chief Minister position was approved.

Message from the Prime Minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated D.K. Shivakumar. He posted his message on the social media platform X, and yes wrote his wishes in Kannada. He said, that he wished the Chief Minister success in his tenure ,and he also mentioned that the central government would cooperate with the Karnataka government for public welfare. 

First cabinet decision on student transport

• The new government announced a welfare measure for students, like a free bus travel kind of thing. Free bus travel will be provided to all students in Karnataka, for real. 
• The decision was taken in the first cabinet meeting after the swearing-in. The scheme will apply to students from LKG to postgraduate level. 
• The Chief Minister announced the decision after the meeting. The government stated that the proposal received approval in the inaugural cabinet session, so basically it moved fast.