The swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister (CM) designate Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM designate DK Shivakumar is set to take place in Bengaluru tomorrow. The much-awaited event comes after five days of intense tussle for power between both leaders. 

Several Ministers and opposition leaders have been invited to the ceremony and reportedly 20 Ministers including some from the state legislative council will also be sworn in along with the CM and Deputy CM. 

Ceremony attendees

The Congress party has indicated that leaders of several like-minded opposition parties are likely to attend the ceremony. All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) President Mallikarjun Kharge is said to have invited Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar. 

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and National Conference Chief Farooq Abdullah have also been invited by Kharge. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and CPI General Secretary D Raja have confirmed their participation in the event, so far. 

The Congress achieved victory with a clear majority by winning 135 of the 224 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka on May 13. Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, who had presented a united front until the victory indulged in intense internal party negotiations to get the top spot. 

The party, five days after the results, decided to pick Siddaramaiah for the top job and pacified DK Shivakumar with the Deputy CM post. The political circles are wary that Siddaramaiah will be holding the post for the entire term, as ideas of splitting the term between both had floated earlier. However, the Congress has not given any clarification or statement on the same.