Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and deputy CM-designate D.K. Shivakumar on Saturday is set to witness the strength of the Opposition parties.
Top Opposition leaders reportedly including Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Nitish Kumar and Uddhav Thackeray have been invited to the ceremony.
Invitations were also sent to Opposition leaders including Hemant Soren, Sitaram Yechury, Farooq Abdullah, Akhilesh Yadav and Naveen Patnaik.
JD(U) spokesperson has confirmed that Nitish Kumar will attend the swearing-in, reported PTI.
"We are inviting the like-minded party leaders to be part of swearing-in ceremony," said AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal.
Siddaramaiah has personally called Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin over phone and invited him to the ceremony.
List of invitees
Apart from the Gandhi family, the list of invitees for Karnataka CM's swearing-in ceremony includes Stalin, Telangana CM K. Chandrashekar Rao, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.
Invitations were also sent to Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren.
Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are expected to take part in the oath-taking ceremony.
The four-day impasse on the chief minister post ended on Thursday after Shivakumar, who was lobbying hard for the top post, settled for the deputy chief minister's chair following prolonged parleys involving the party central leadership and the intervention of Sonia Gandhi.
The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 12:30 pm on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) criticised the Congress for not inviting Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to the swearing-in ceremony.
LDF Convenor E.P. Jayarajan said that the Congress has proved it cannot carry out the mission of bringing together the secular democratic forces of the country against BJP's "fascist" politics.
Jayarajan also slammed the party for its "immature" politics.
Congress stormed to power in the state in the May 10 elections after winning 135 seats. The BJP was reduced to 66 seats while the JD(S) could bag just 19 seats.