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HD Kumaraswamy Takes Oath As Chief Minister Of Karnataka Amid Massive Show Of Unity By Opposition Leaders

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Mayawati were present at the ceremony.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images

JD(S)'s HD Kumaraswamy took oath as the chief minister of Karnataka on Wednesday after a dramatic week following a hung assembly in the state, without any party getting past the half-way mark.

Congress's G Parameshwara took oath as the deputy chief minister of Karnataka.

Opposition leaders like UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BSP leader Mayawati were present at the ceremony to show unity with Kumarswamy. Sharad Pawar, Sitaram Yechury and Akhilesh Yadav were also present at the ceremony.

Kumaraswamy's swearing-in comes days after BJP's BS Yeddyurappa resigned as the chief minister of the state only two days after he was sworn in.

Kumaraswamy was chosen as the chief ministerial candidate of the JD(S)-Congress alliance when the Congress reach out to JD(S) after counting to form the alliance.

Though the Congress and JD(S) had the numbers to form government (78 and 37 respectively), the Governor of Karnataka Vajubhai Vala had invited the BJP to form a government in the state.

The alliance had maintained that the BJP did not have the numbers and had approached the Supreme Court to contest Yeddyurappa's bid to form government. The Supreme Court had directed the BJP and Yeddyurappa to prove its majority on the floor of the house after it told the court that they had the numbers.

Ahead of the floor test, several Congress and JD(S) MLAs had told the media that the BJP had offered them bribes of large sums of money and ministerial positions in the state if they moved to the BJP.

On the day of the floor test, after an emotional speech Yedyurappa conceded that he did not have the numbers and resigned as the chief minister paving way for Kumaraswamy.

Son of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy is president of JD(S) in Karnataka.

He served as the chief minister of Karantaka between February 2006 to October 2007.

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