Bengaluru  (ANI): Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Monday administered the oath of office to senior Congress leader RV Deshpande as pro-tem Speaker for the Legislative Assembly session.

Two days after senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah took oath as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka, the first Legislative Assembly session in the southern state began today. It will be held for three days till May 24.

All the 224 newly elected MLAs will be administered oaths during the three-day session, which will also witness the election of the new speaker.

Meanwhile, Congress workers were seen sprinkling cow urine and performing Pooja at the State Assembly in Bengaluru.

The workers said that they are “purifying” Vidhana Soudha.

Earlier, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar met with his predecessor Basavaraj Bommai at the State Assembly in Bengaluru.

He also met with BJP leader and former Union Minister SM Krishna. Shivakumar’s daughter married SM Krishna’s grandson in 2021.

Shivakumar was sworn in as the sole Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and will continue as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress president till the end of parliamentary elections.

Congress leader Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka for the second time on Saturday after the party’s thumping victory in the Assembly elections.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge, party’s MLAs G Parameshwara and MB Patil were among eight MLAs who took oath on Saturday. The other MLAs who took oath included KH Muniyappa, KJ George, Satish Jarkiholi, Ramalinga Reddy and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office and secrecy to the MLAs at the swearing-in ceremony held at the jam-packed Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Congress bagged 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ousting the ruling BJP, which got 66 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats in the results declared on May 13.