Karnataka CM oath ceremony: "All 5 promises will become law after first cabinet meeting," says Rahul Gandhi

Karnataka CM oath ceremony: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new Karnataka government on Saturday, said that all five promises that the party made during the campaign "will become law" after the first cabinet meeting which will take place in a short while.

Congress veteran Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka for the second time today and DK Shivakumar took the oath as his Deputy. Eight MLAs took the oath as Ministers in the new Karnataka Cabinet. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office and secrecy to them at the swearing-in ceremony held at the jam-packed Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.

Addressing on the occasion which was also attended by various opposition leaders, Rahul Gandhi said, "We made 5 promises to you. I had said we don't make false promises. We do what we say. In 1-2 hours, the first cabinet meeting of the Karnataka government will happen and in that meeting these 5 promises will become law." "We will give you a clean, non-corrupt government," he added.

Notably, the Congress manifesto lists five main guarantees. "Gruha Jyoti: 200 units of free power to all households, Gruha Lakshmi: Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family, Anna Bhagya: 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household; Yuva Nidhi scheme: diploma holders will get an allowance of Rs 1,500 per month for two years, while graduates will receive Rs 3,000 per month and Shakti: Free bus rides for all women in the state".

Rahul Gandhi, in his address, further shed light on the grand old party's win in the Karnataka assembly elections and said that party won because it stood with the poor, Dalits, and Adivasis, backwards. "Nafrat ko mitaya, Mohabbat jeeti," said Rahul Gandhi after the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected Karnataka Government.

He said that Congress had truth while the BJP had money which was defeated by the people of the state. "After Congress's victory, many things were written as to how Congress won this election, different analyses were done but I want to say that Congress won because we stood with the poor, Dalits, and Adivasis, backwards. We had the truth and poor people. BJP had money, police and everything but the people of Karnataka defeated all their powers," said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Meanwhile, as many as eight Congress MLAs were sworn in as ministers in the Karnataka Cabinet during the oath-taking ceremony in Bengaluru on Saturday. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank Kharge, party's MLAs G Parameshwara and MB Patil were among the eight MLAs. The other MLAs who took oath included KH Muniyappa, KJ George, Satish Jarkiholi, Ramalinga Reddy and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan.

Top brass of the Congress party including the Gandhi family members - Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, party's national president Mallikarjun Kharge were present on the occasion.

The Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled states including Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel attended the event.The party had also sent an invitation to numerous 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 who were present include Sharad Pawar, and Kamal Haasan.Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan attends the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected Karnataka Government in Bengaluru. Ahead of the ceremony, Rahul Gandhi, Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah were seen holding each other's hands in the air as a show of strength and unity.

Congress bagged 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ousting the ruling BJP, which got 66 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats in the results declared on May 13.