The newly elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Karnataka, D K Shivakumar, 64, was sworn in as the 24th chief minister of the state, along with a 13-person cabinet – including deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, 74, at a ceremony attended by the Congress top brass, CMs of three states and outgoing CM Siddaramaiah, on Wednesday.Shivakumar had been waiting in the wings to be the CM of Karnataka since the Congress won the state elections in 2023 under his leadership with a clear majority of 135 seats in the 224-member state assembly.He ascended to the position of the leader of the CLP on May 30 after the Congress central leadership asked Siddaramaiah on May 26 to step down as CM on the back of the Congress party completing three years in office on May 20, in what is seen as the fruition of a power-sharing pact that was informally sealed by the leadership after the 2023 poll victory. Shivakumar and a first batch of 13 ministers were sworn in on the lawns of the Lok Bhavan on Wednesday afternoon by the state Governor Thawarchand Gehlot. (Credit: Special Arrangement)Shivakumar and a first batch of 13 ministers were sworn in on the lawns of the Lok Bhavan on Wednesday afternoon by the state Governor Thawarchand Gehlot. The new Karnataka CM paid respects to a picture of his spiritual guru “Gangadhar Ajja” or “Ajjaya” before being sworn in and took his oath in his name.Also Read | The myth of Siddaramaiah and the reality of D K ShivakumarAhead of the swearing-in-ceremony, Shivakumar made courtesy stops at the residences of senior state politicians – former PM and Janata Dal Secular party patriarch H D Deve Gowda, former BJP CM and Lingayat stalwart B S Yediyurappa and Siddaramaiah.Earlier before taking oath as the CM, Shivakumar said he was heralding a new era of youth leadership in Karnataka. “The people of Karnataka have faith in me. I will take every section of society together, including farmers, women and the youth. A new youth era will begin in Karnataka,” Shivakumar said.The new Karnataka CM also thanked the Gandhi family for reposing faith in his leadership. “The Gandhi family had faith in me. They gave me various opportunities. From Rajiv Gandhi to now, I have been very loyal to the family,” he said.Story continues below this ad “The Gandhi family had faith in me. They gave me various opportunities,” he said, paying his respects to the Gandhi family. (Credit: Special Arrangement)“I am very committed to the trust and confidence placed in me and I will work very hard to fulfill everyone’s expectations. The path is not easy. However, it must be managed. I will do my job with great honesty and dedication,” Shivakumar said.The first batch of 13 cabinet picks for the D K Shivakumar ministry were essentially ministers from the Siddaramaiah cabinet with the two exceptions of Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra Siddaramaiah, 45, who is an MLC and a former MLA from the OBC Kuruba community leader’s home region of Mysuru in south Karnataka, and the former assembly speaker U T Khader.The cabinet picks indicate that the Congress party is attempting to retain its caste base and balance despite the change of guard from a popular OBC CM to a dominant Vokkaliga CM.Also Read | Ahead of Shivakumar’s swearing-in as CM, Siddaramaiah appointed CWC memberThe cabinet picks include two other Vokkaligas in the form of Ramalinga Reddy and Krishna Byregowda, apart from CM Shivakumar.Story continues below this adThere are three Dalits in the form of G Parameshwara, the Deputy Chief Minister, who took his oath in the name of Dr Ambedkar; Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge and veteran K H Muniyappa. While Parameshwara and Kharge are leaders of the Dalit (right) grouping, the veteran Muniyappa is among the few Dalit (left) leaders in the Congress.There are three ministers also from the dominant Lingayat community in the form of veteran M B Patil, Eshwar Khandre and Sharan Prakash Patil. There are two from the OBC Kuruba community of the ex-CM Siddaramaiah in the form of Byrathi Suresh and the fresher Yathindra Siddaramaiah.There is one Christian, one Muslim and one ST minister in the form of K J George, U T Khader and Satish Jharkiholi respectively.The Congress did not pick any woman MLA to be a minister in the first batch of inductions after veteran K H Muniyappa did not make way for his daughter Roopakala Shashidhar who was expected to be inducted. Induction of women into the cabinet is expected during cabinet expansion. The previous Siddaramaiah government had one woman minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar, who handled the women and child development portfolio.Story continues below this adFormer CM Siddaramaiah, who was stoic through much of the proceedings, cracked a smile when his son Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah was sworn in as a first-time minister. In recent times, Siddaramaiah’s son has been a behind the scenes influencer in the Congress government.The swearing-in ceremony for Shivakumar and 13 ministers was restricted to around 3,000 guests following advice by the Congress leadership against putting up a massive show on the steps of the government headquarters at the Vidhana Soudha in central Bengaluru.Public viewing of the swearing in was arranged at locations like bus stands and the Congress offices in Bengaluru to allow participation of ordinary citizens.The guest list for the swearing in at Lok Bhavan featured the elites of Bengaluru from various fields and was unlike the mass swearing in ceremonies in the past that were attended by cheering and whistling fans and followers of the political leaders.Story continues below this ad The swearing-in ceremony for Shivakumar and 13 ministers was restricted to around 3,000 guests, following advice from the Congress leadership against staging a massive show. (Credit: Special Arrangement)Among the guests for the swearing in – described as a “royal darbar” by an observer – were the chief ministers of three Congress ruled states Himachal Pradesh – Sukhwinder Singh Suku, Telangana – Revanth Reddy, and Kerala V D Satheesan, apart from the Congress central top brass of Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala.The chief justice of Karnataka Vibhu Bakru also featured on the stage for the swearing in ceremony.In the audience were film stars Shivaraj Kumar, Dhananjay, the former Congress leader and actress Ramya, the Infosys founder Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murthy, the renowned heart doctor Devi Shetty, former cricketer Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad with other office bearers of the state cricket association. Seers from various caste groups in the state, the archbishop of Bengaluru Peter Machado and other religious leaders also attended.Before the actual swearing-in started at the Lok Bhavan Shivakumar went around row by row to greet the guests who had been invited for the event.