NEW DELHI: Leaders of several like-minded opposition parties are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday in Bengaluru.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has extended the invitation to several chief ministers and party leaders and personally invited them to the event.
Kharge has invited Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Invitations have also been sent to National Conference Chief Farooq Abdullah.
However, sources said Telangana Chief Minister and BRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP leader Y S Jagan Mohan and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have not been sent any invitations. No invite has been sent to BSP chief Mayawati too, the sources said.
Kharge has sent an invitation to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and he is likely to attend the swearing-in. "The CM is likely to leave on Saturday from Ranchi to attend the ceremony and return the same day," a source close to Soren said.
Soren, who is in Delhi, had met Kharge on May 16 and congratulated him on the Congress' victory in the Karnataka assembly elections.
Kharge also personally called up CPI general secretary D Raja and he has confirmed his participation at the swearing-in. A similar invite has also been sent to CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury as also to Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar will attend the swearing-in of the Congress government in Karnataka, JD(U) spokesperson Rajib Ranjan said.
The sources said CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury will attend the swearing-in ceremony.
"Mamata Banerjee has been invited but she is not going to attend the ceremony. They may decide by tomorrow who will go for the swearing-in," a source said on Thursday.
The Congress president and Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah called up Stalin over the phone on Thursday and invited him to participate in the swearing-in ceremony on May 20, an official release in Chennai said.
Earlier, AICC general secretary organisation K C Venugopal said, "We are inviting like-minded party leaders to be part of the swearing-in ceremony." Asked how many parties are being invited, he said all like-minded parties are being extended an invitation at the swearing-in function in Bengaluru.
The Karnataka Congress has also extended invitations to former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Besides, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will also be invited and they will be present.