Bangalore, May 11: The stream of supporters, well-wishers, party MLAs, bureaucrats, industrialists at chief minister designate Siddaramaiah’s house on Saturday just seemed endless.
They came with bouquets in hand and waited for hours to greet and congratulate Siddaramaiah, who will be sworn in as the State’s 22nd chief minister on Monday.
Siddaramaiah’s official quarters (given to him in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition in the 13th Assembly) in Kumara Park was a beehive of activity since early morning. A special pandal had been erected on the sprawling lawns in front of the house to provide shelter to the visitors. Only ‘VIP’ visitors were provided access inside the house.
At any point there were at least 200 such VIPs seated inside the house in the waiting rooms, office room, hall and even the dining room.
Siddaramaiah started meeting his visitors from 10 am. Legislator R V Devaraj greeted him with a huge garland. He later stood on podium to receive felicitations from the visitors waiting outside the house. Most of them had arrived from Mysore in general and Varuna, his home constituency, in particular.
At noon, Siddaramaiah took time to meet three litterateurs – G S Shivarudrappa, U R Ananthamurthy and Chandrashekar Kambar – by paying a visit to their respective residences.
He spent more time at Ananthamurthy’s residence. “I am not against any community nor am I against any mutts. For me all communities are equal,” Siddaramaiah told reporters after his interaction with Ananthamurthy.
Ananthamurthy expressed confidence that Siddaramaiah would provide good administration. “I am sure he will tread the right path,” he said. Siddaramaiah later called on KPCC President G Parameshwara.
Back home, Siddaramaiah continued meeting his visitors whose numbers seemed to have increased. JD(U) President M P Nadagouda, KJP Campaign Committee Chairman Dhanjaya Kumar and newly elected legislator Ashok Kheny of Kannada Makkala Party greeted Siddaramaiah.
A host of senior IAS and IPS officers including Kaushik Mukherjee, Bipin Gopalakrishna, Mohammed Sanaulla, Kumar Naik and Pankaj Kumar Pande greeted Siddaramaiah by offering him bouquets.
Chief Secretary S V Ranganath arrived at around 3 pm and Siddaramaiah immediately held a closed door meeting with him along with some senior officers.
He later left for Mysore by road. He is scheduled to be back in the capital on Sunday evening to get ready for the swearing-in ceremony on Monday.
