Congress' G Parameshwara to take oath as Karnataka deputy CM on Wednesday

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BENGALURU: Congress leader G Parameshwara will on Wednesday take oath as the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister. Ahead of his swearing-in ceremony on May 23, Karnataka Chief Minister-designate H D Kumaraswamy confirmed the development.

While the deputy Speaker will be elected on Friday, KR Ramesh Kumar from the grand old party has been picked to become the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly - Vidhana Soudha.

Kumaraswamy, however, has earlier informed that both the Speaker and deputy Speaker will be elected on May 25. The portfolios of the Cabinet of Ministers will be decided on Thursday, he added.

"We took a decision regarding the expansion (of the cabinet). Speaker and deputy speaker would be elected on 25 May. Portfolios would be decided day after tomorrow. Everything is alright, no differences," Kumaraswamy told news agency ANI.

The announcement comes after a meeting that took place today evening. On Monday, the Janata Dal (Secular) leader Kumaraswamy met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi.

The oath-taking ceremony will witnesses a gathering of non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief ministers and chief of opposition parties.

Kumaraswamy earlier met Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati at her residence here and invited her for his oath ceremony. The lone MLA of Mayawati's BSP will be part of the state Cabinet.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee, Puducherry Chief Minister Narayanasamy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will also mark his presence on the occasion.

Kumaraswamy has also invited Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury to attend his swearing-in ceremony.

On Saturday, Kumaraswamy was invited by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to form the government in the state, after BJP's B S Yeddyurappa stepped down ahead of the floor test in the state assembly.

While Kumaraswamy was earlier expected to swear-in as Karnataka Chief Minister on Monday, the ceremony later got pushed to May 23 due to the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The JDS fought the May 12 Assembly elections in alliance with the BSP while the party formed a post-poll alliance with the Congress following a hung verdict on May 15. 

The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats, while the Congress was leading in 78 constituencies and the JDS managed to bag 37 seats. The BSP has one MLA and two seats went to Independents. The newly-formed alliance has claimed support of 117 MLAs in the 224-member House with an effective strength of 221.

(With inputs from agencies)