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Oppn bigwigs to attend HDK swearing-in today

Bengaluru: A JD(S)-Congress coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy will be sworn-in today in Karnataka at a ceremony attended by a galaxy of opposition leaders and chief ministers, a development that could plant a seed for a broad-based anti-BJP platform before the Lok Sabha polls next year.
Karnataka Congress president G Parameshwara will be sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister, AICC general secretary in-charge of the state K C Venugopal said.
Congress's Ramesh Kumar, a former minister, will be the next Speaker, while the Deputy Speaker's post will go to the JD(S), Venugopal said.
The Congress would have 22 ministers and JD(S) 12, he said, adding they would be sworn in after the floor test slated for Thursday.
The JD(S)'s chief minister-designate said portfolio distribution would be discussed on Thursday and a coordination committee will be formed to facilitate smooth functioning of the coalition.
Government officials and sources in the JD(S) said Congress president Rahul Gandhi, his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan, her counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Kerala, are among those likely to be present.
So would be CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah.
BSP chief Mayawati and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, who have formed an alliance in Uttar Pradesh would also attend the ceremony.
DMK leader M K Stalin, who was also expected to be present in order to show the burgeoning opposition consolidation against the BJP, has cancelled his Bengaluru visit and would instead head for Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu where nine people were killed in police firing on Tuesday. See inside
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