BENGALURU: While the Congress high command is yet to finalise the name for the Chief Minister’s post, the preparations to set the stage for the swearing-in ceremony were in full swing at Bengaluru’s Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday, following a buzz that Siddaramaiah will be taking the oath of office on Thursday.
As television news channels started airing news that Siddaramaiah’s name was finalised for the top post and a fake invitation of the swearing-in ceremony, that too in the name of the Governor, started doing the rounds, the authorities started making preparations for the swearing-in ceremony.
Meanwhile, the followers of Siddaramaiah started gathering at his official residence near Kumarakrupa Guest House and began celebrations and police deployed additional forces at the residence as part of the protocol that is to be followed when the name of the new CM is announced.
Senior officials of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms rushed to the stadium to oversee the preparations for the swearing-in ceremony while senior police officials also arrived at the venue. Bomb Detection & Disposal Squad (BDDS) and the sniffer squad were pressed into service to carry out a check at the stadium while the stadium was barricaded as per the instructions of police officials.
While Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Sandeep Patil was busy planning the security, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MA Saleem was chalking out a plan for the movement of VVIP vehicles. The authorities were planning to make seating arrangements for about 50,000 people before they were ordered to stop the preparations, soon after AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala clarified that no one was chosen for the CM’s post and requested people not to heed false reports.
Police sources said that they swung into action following a message from the DPAR. “Our work is just to provide security and manage traffic and it will be initiated only after clear instructions from the DPAR. Even we were surprised about the arrangements before the official announcement of the new CM’s name,” a senior police officer said. He added that generally, it is the Chief Secretary’s office that communicates the date and time of the swearing-in after consultation with the Governor’s office. “It appears that there was some miscommunication at their end,” he said.
While swearing-in of CMs takes place at Raj Bhavan or on the grand steps of Vidhana Soudha, Siddaramaiah prefers Sree Kanteerva Stadium, where he took oath even in 2013.
Delay shows lack of unity in Cong, says Bommai
Bengaluru: Outgoing CM Basavaraj Bommai said that the delay in the selection of the next CM despite having the full majority shows a lack of unity in the Congress. “People have voted for the Congress... they should put an end to politics, select a new CM, form the government, and serve the people,” he said. Bommai said it is an internal issue of the Congress and he would not like to talk much about it.
“The Congress leaders have spoken a lot about Lingayats. Let us see what posts will they give to Lingayats,” he said. They will wait and see if Congress gives its Lingayat leaders CM, DyCM, or other posts, he said. In the run-up to the elections, Congress had accused the BJP of sidelining its Lingayat leaders, including former chief minister BS Yediyurappa.