Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the first list of eight ministers in the new Karnataka cabinet, just hours before the swearing-in ceremony on Saturday. After registering a spectacular victory in the elections, the Congress is trying to strike a balance between castes and regions as it inducts the council of ministers in Karnataka.
According to NDTV, eight newly elected MLAs—G Parameshwara, KH Muniyappa, KJ George, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank Kharge, Ramalinga Reddy and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan—will take the oath of office on Saturday, along with Chief Minister-designate Siddaramaih and Deputy CM- designate DK Shivakumar. Sources said that 20 to 25 ministers could take oath on Saturday.
The swearing-in ceremony at Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru will be a show of Opposition unity as a host of opposition leaders including Nitish Kumar, M.K.Stalin, Sharad Pawar and Farooq Abdullah will be present. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee will skip the event, but will send her party's representation.
Kharge has also invited leaders of JMM, RJD, Shiv Sena, SP, PDP, CPI(M), CPI, MDMK, RSP, CPI(ML), VCK, RLD, Kerala Congress and IUML for the ceremony, the sources said. However, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala criticised the Congress for not inviting the state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
-more details awaited
