BJP Tamil Nadu unit president K Annamalai claimed that the Karnataka government would “collapse” within a year.
Bengaluru:
Soon after taking oath, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka ordered the implementation of the promises made by the party in its election manifesto, as well as the 15th Finance Commission’s special grant of Rs 5,495 crore for the state’s financial losses. attributed to the Centre. Not provided to the state.
DK Shivakumar, who was the Chief Ministerial aspirant, was sworn in as the sole Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. This came days after the party was mulling over the chief ministerial face after the party registered a landslide victory in the state.
Along with the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister, eight more MLAs took oath as ministers in the Karnataka cabinet.
The eight MLAs include Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge, party MLAs G Parameshwara and MB Patil.
Other MLAs who took oath include KH Muniyappa, KJ George, Satish Jarkiholi, Ramalinga Reddy and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan.
Top leaders of the Congress party, including Gandhi family members Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, along with party national president Mallikarjun Kharge were present on the occasion.
Chief Ministers of Congress ruled states including Himachal CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel attended the event. The party had also sent invitations to several opposition parties and their leaders.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah were also present during the swearing-in ceremony.
Other opposition leaders present included Sharad Pawar and Kamal Haasan.
Subsequently, the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah issued orders to implement the five guarantees given by the party before the elections.
The five ‘main’ guarantees are 200 units of free electricity to all households (griha jyoti); Monthly assistance of Rs 2,000 to the female head of each household (Griha Lakshmi); 10 kg rice free to each member of BPL family (Anna Bhagya); Rs 3,000 per month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the 18-25 age group) for two years (Yuva Nidhi) and free travel for women in public transport buses (Uthik Prayan).
Addressing a press conference after the first cabinet meeting at Vidhana Soudha here, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said, “Five guarantees were promised in the manifesto and the implementation of those five guarantees was ordered after the first cabinet meeting.” . Will be in all. force after the next cabinet meeting, which will be called within a week.”
Also, hours after being sworn in as Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah attacked the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government, saying that the government that ruled earlier was a waste.
“The government that was ruling earlier was useless. They could not give us our share of taxes properly. The Center has to give us Rs 5,495 crore as recommended by the Finance Commission.”
The session of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly is to be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party slammed the Congress, alleging a “huge gap” between the ruling party’s announcements and poll promises.
“There is a huge difference between the promises made by the Congress government and the announcements made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after the first cabinet. People had expected a lot of announcements and immediate implementation. Some women started traveling free in buses.” Today’s announcements have disappointed people,” former CM Basavaraj Bommai told ANI after addressing a press conference.
Hitting out at the Congress, BJP Tamil Nadu unit president K Annamalai claimed that the Karnataka government would “collapse” within a year.
“I see the Karnataka government collapsing like a house of cards a year from now. If DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah don’t fight till 2024, both should be given the Nobel Peace Prize, because the very structure of the government is flawed. ” Both the leaders will be CM for 2.5 years. Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and AICC have 10 ministers each. What kind of structure is this?” Annamalai said.
“They talk about opposition unity. When there is no unity in the Congress itself, what kind of unity will there be? Also, opposition leaders like Arvind Kejriwal, KCR and Mamata Banerjee were not at the swearing-in ceremony today,” he said. ,
Meanwhile, after the swearing-in ceremony, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday thanked the people of Karnataka for bringing the Congress to power in the southern state and said the newly formed government would work for the development of the state. State.
In a personal video address, the former Congress president said, “From my heart, I would like to thank all of you, the people of Karnataka, for giving such a historic mandate to the Congress party. This mandate is for a pro-people government and For this, a pro-poor government. It is a rejection of divisive politics and a rejection of corruption. I want to assure the people of Karnataka that the Congress government that will be sworn in today will live up to its commitment to implement the promises made to the people. “.
He said, “I am proud that the immediate implementation of our five guarantees has already been approved in the first cabinet meeting. The Congress party is committed to the prosperity, peace and progress of Karnataka. Jai Hind.”
The Congress won 135 seats in the elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly on 10 May, leaving the ruling BJP with 66, while the Janata Dal (Secular) won 19 in the results declared on 13 May.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)