Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Congress’ newly elected leaders Ashok Gehlot as Rajasthan Chief Minister in Jaipur, and Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister in Bhopal on Monday, an official said on Sunday.
“The Congress has invited Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) to attend the oath-taking of Gehlot and Nath as an alliance partner of the coalition government in the state,” said the official in a statement.
Kumaraswamy will first fly to Jaipur by a special aircraft and attend the swearing-in of Gehlot as Chief Minister and Sachin Pilot as Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan at Albert Hall Museum in the Pink city at 10.30 a.m.
“The Chief Minister will fly to Bhopal from Jaipur in the same aircraft for the oath-taking of Nath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minster at Jamboori Maidan in Bhopal at 1.30 p.m. and return to Bengaluru by evening,” said the statement.
The Congress returned to power in both states after securing a simple majority with the support of its allies — Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) and a few Independents in the assembly elections held on December 7 in Rajasthan and November 28 in Madhya Pradesh.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Gehlot and their party leaders attended Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in on May 23 after the ruling parties forged a post-poll alliance to form the JD-S-Congress coalition government following a split verdict in the May 12 state assembly elections on May 15.
State unit Congress leader G. Parameshawara was also sworn-in as the southern state’s Deputy Chief Minister along with Kumaraswamy on the ramparts of the state secretariat (Vidhana Soudha) in the city centre.
TNM
