[1]Bengaluru: Newly elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Siddaramaiah will be sworn in as the 22nd chief minister of Karnataka on Monday, at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the heart of the city at 11.40 am.
While most CMs in the past had almost made it customary to take the oath of office on the steps of Vidhana Soudha, the ongoing Metro work has compelled the change in venue to the stadium, which has a seating capacity of 40,000.
When 64-year-old Siddaramaiah, a lawyer turned politician and MLA from Varuna constituency, takes the oath, it will spell the end of a seven-year-long hiatus for the Congress which last held power in the state from 2004-2006.
A Congress-JD(S) coalition government led by Dharam Singh was then in power with Siddaramaiah the deputy CM representing the JD(S). He later joined the Congress after differences with the Deve Gowda clan.
Thousands of party workers and wellwishers are expected to descend on Bengaluru to watch their leader being administered the oath of office. The list of invitees includes central leaders, CMs of Congress-ruled states, the 121 newly elected Congress MLAs, former CMs B.S. Yeddyurappa, H.D. Kumaraswamy, Jagadish Shettar and D.V. Sadananda Gowda along with BJP state president Prahlad Joshi.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/siddu3jpg-741