United in Victory: Opposition joins hands at Kumaraswamy’s swearing in

Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy was on Wednesday sworn in as the Chief Minister of a Janata Dal-Secular-Congress coalition government in Karnataka.

Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office to Kumaraswamy at 4.30 p.m. on the grand steps of the Vidhana Soudha, the state Secretariat, in the presence of national and regional leaders from across the country.

G Parameshwara of the Congress took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister.

Opposition leaders JD(S)’ HD Deve Gowda, Congress' Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Mayawati, Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar, Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Telugu Desam Party leader and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav and CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, among others, joined hands with Kumaraswamy after the oath. Socialist leader Sharad Yadav was also in attendance.

Kumaraswamy took the oath in the name of God and the people of "Kannada Nadu".

The show of strength by a galaxy of national leaders and regional satraps is being seen as a strong signal to the BJP about the possibility of formation of a broad-based front to take on the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha polls next year.

The BJP boycotted the ceremony and observed a "Black Day" during which it held statewide protests against the new coalition government, which it called "unholy".

With agency inputs

*This article will be updated