The Congress used the stage, where Siddaramaiah took oath as Chief Minister, to send out a message of Opposition unity as top leaders of parties from across the country that have stood against the BJP came together on a common platform ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
Keenly watched election
While efforts at the national level to have a common ground having begun, Karnataka elections were keenly watched for the Congress’ ability to defeat the BJP. With elections to several State assemblies set to take place this year ahead of the Parliamentary polls in 2024, the Karnataka election was seen as an important milestone in stitching together an alliance against the Narendra Modi-led BJP government.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who recently completed the Bharat Jodo Yatra, was seen interacting with leaders of other parties on the stage. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah was another leader who was seen wishing and greeting his counterparts from other regional parties, including his political rival in Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP.
Who’s who of Opposition
Among those present on Saturday included Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin; Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar; Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav; Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren; former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Sharad Pawar; CPI (M) leader Sitharam Yechury; CPI leader D. Raja; Janata Dal (United) president Lalan Singh; RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary; MNM founder and actor Kamal Haasan; general secretary of CPI (ML) Dipankar Bhattacharya; founder of VCK Thol. Thirumavalavan; N.N. Premchandran of RSP; Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar of TMC; Priyanka Chaturvedi and Anil Desai of Shiv Sena, and Abdul Samad Samdani of IUML.
Congress leaders
The Congress’ political power was also in full sight as Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukwinder Singh Sukhu, and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath were among the many who joined AICC president M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Mr. Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi on the occasion of the Congress returning to power in Karnataka.
