Several prominent leaders from the Centre’s Oppostion shared the stage at HD Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony in Bengaluru on Wednesday, 23 May.
While Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav was seen hugging Janata Dal (Secular) veteran HD Deve Gowda, his new alliance partner Bahujan Samajwadi Party chief Mayawati was seen exchanging laughs with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Meanwhile, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and party veteran Sonia Gandhi appeared to be sharing a heartfelt moment with Mayawati.
Soon after the swearing-in, Rahul Gandhi gathered all the members on stage for a quick photo-session, raisng arms in unision. While Mayawati and Sonia Gandhi appeared inseperable, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had attended the ceremony, was nowhere to be seen in the photograph.
Meanwhile, Banerjee and her Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu pitched for all regional parties to come together for development of a federal setup in the country.
Both Banerjee and Naidu said they were happy that the leader of a regional party was assuming office and they were here to express their solidarity with the JD(S).
"We will keep in touch with all the regional parties so that we can work for the development of the nation, development of the people and development of the federal set-up also," the West Bengal chief minister added.
If states are strong, the Centre would also be strong, she said adding, "Our mission and vision is very clear, that we can meet each other, we can talk to each other, and we can go to every state and talk to each other that will give us more strength for the future of the country".
The oath-taking ceremony with the participation of a galaxy of Opposition leaders and chief ministers is being seen as a development that could plant a seed for a broad-based anti-BJP platform before the Lok Sabha polls next year.
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