LIVE Updates: HD Kumaraswamy to take oath as Karnataka Chief Minister as Opposition leaders attend JD(S)-Congress government's swearing in and BJP observes "Anti People's Mandate Day."

Update at 4:45 pm: Opposition's show of unity

Update at 4:42 pm: Opposition leaders meet and greet after the swearing-in

Update at 4:38 pm: G Parameshwar sworn-in as Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister

Update at 4:33 pm: Kumaraswamy sworn-in as Karnataka's Chief Minister by Governor Vajubhai Vala

Update at 4:29 pm: National Anthem plays ahead of the swearing-in

Update at 4:27 pm: Congress' Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi arrive at the Vidhana Soudha

 Update at 4:25 pm: HD Kumaraswamy before his swearing-in

Update at 4:23 pm: Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Yadav at the Vidhana Soudha

Update at 4:11 pm: Mayawati arrives at the Vidhan Soudha as she and her long-time political rival and fellow former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav greet each other

 Update at 4:10 pm: Amid a drizzle in Bengaluru, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav interacts with JD(S)' Danish Ali ahead of HD Kumaraswamy's swearing-in as Karnataka Chief Minister

Update at 3:51 pm: Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu meets Bahujan Samaj Party's Mayawati

Update at 3:03 pm: Pictures of AP CM Chandrababu Naidu, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury ahead of the swearing-in:

Update at 2:50 pm: Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav arrives at Taj WestEnd Hotel in Bengaluru ahead of swearing-in

Update at 2:20 pm: Aerial shot of Vidhana Soudha ahead of the swearing-in

Update at 2:09 pm: Congress' DK Shivakumar says all is well in the party (G Parameshwara has been selected to be sworn in as Deputy CM of Karnataka -- a post that Shivakumar, who played an instrumental role in keeping the party's flock together ahead of the Yeddyurappa trust vote, had reportedly coveted)

Update at 1:15 pm: Mamata Banerjee and Chandrababu Naidu address media together in Bengaluru ahead of Kumaraswamy's swearing-in.

We have all come here. We are very happy Kumaraswamy is the CM. In future also we'll be together. We are watching and want to promote more and more regional parties. We want to express our solidarity - N Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh CM

We are very happy that Kumaraswamyji is taking oath. We will keep in touch with all the regional parties. Our vision is very clear. Congress is also a separate party. We are here to support JD(S) as a regional party. "Ju humse takrayega, woh choor-choor ho jayega" - Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal CM

Update at 12:16 pm: 'This is an unholy alliance. It is a black day for the state. Such an alliance cannot last. They will not even continue 2-3 months', says BS Yeddyurappa

Update at 12:03 pm: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu arrives at Bengaluru airport

Update at 12:01 pm: Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena has said that Uddhav Thackeray had been invited for the swearing in of HD Kumaraswamy but will not be able to attend because he's busy with preparations for the Palghar Lok Sabha by-election

Update at 11:57 am: Chief Ministers of Puducherry and Kerala, V Narayanaswamy and Pinarayi Vijayan respectively, arrive at Bengaluru airport

Update at 11:04 am: Here's the minute-by-minute schedule for today's ceremony - 

Update at 10:10 am: HD Deve Gowda speaks exclusively to Republic TV and says - 

'Need of the hour is to keep BJP out of office. They have not got the mandate of the people of Karnataka. Congress and JD(S) together have the mandate to form a government. There is nothing immoral about it. I have 60 years of experience. I know what is moral and immoral. My responsibility is to run this coalition in a smoothe manner. 

People have helped us and hence we're inviting them. Many leaders are coming for the swearing-in ceremony. Let them come. Let them participate. We will decide next how to move forward with all these leaders together.'

Update at 9:34 am: Karnataka assembly floor test deferred by a day. Floor test to be conducted on May 25

Update at 9:09 am: Kamal Haasan will not be attending the swearing-in in Bengaluru and will to Tuticorin instead. (Update at 9:35 am: Kamal Haasan will attend swearing-in after first going to Tuticorin)

Update at 8:16 am: HD Kumaraswamy's swearing-in to take place on steps of Vidhana Soudha at 4:30 pm.

Watch everything related to Kumaraswamy's swearing in, as it happens, here. 

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The JD(S)' HD Kumaraswamy will be sworn into power as Chief Minister of Karnataka on Wednesday, over a decade after his previous stint in the office. Kumaraswamy, the son of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, will be sworn in alongside the Congress' G Parameshwara who will be Deputy Chief Minister of the state.

The JD(S)-Congress' post-polls alliance will be administered the oath of office and the oath of secrecy by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala at the state's assembly, the Vidhana Soudha, at around 4:30 pm, just over four days after the BJP's Yeddyurappa resigned from the Chief Minister's office before he was to prove his majority in a floor test. 

Kumaraswamy will be making a whirlwind trip to Mysore to visit the Chamundi Temple on Chamundi Hills there, and will be returning via his long-time constituency Ramanagara where similarly he will visit another Chamundi Temple.

A prominent feature of the swearing in is to be the attendance of a number of Opposition leaders. Here's the full list -

Sonia Gandhi (Congress) - UPA Chairperson
Rahul Gandhi (Congress) - Congress party president
Mayawati (BSP) - Party chief who has one MLA in the Karnataka government
Arvind Kejriwal (AAP) - Delhi Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee (TMC) - West Bengal Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan (CPI-M) - Kerala Chief Minister
Chandrababu Naidu (TDP) - Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister
Captain Amarinder Singh (Congress) - Punjab Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik (BJD) - Odisha Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav (SP)
Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) - Leader of Opposition, Bihar
Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) - Party general secretary
Ajit Singh (RLD) - party chief
Kamal Haasan (MNM) - party chief

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao paid his visit to Kumaraswamy and HD Deve Gowda on Tuesday itself before returning to Hyderabad on account of having prior engagements to attend to. DMK chief Stalin was also to attend but cancelled his visit in view of the events in Tuticorin on Tuesday. Mamata Banerjee, meanwhile, has already arrived in Bengaluru.

The BJP, meanwhile, which has dubbed the coming together of the JD(S) and the Congress as an 'unholy alliance', will observe Wednesday as "Anti People's Mandate Day."

"The Congress and JDS hijacked the people's mandate and entered into an unholy alliance. On the day this unholy coalition government takes office, that is tomorrow, Wednesday, 23.5.2018, the BJP has decided to observe this day as "Anti People's Mandate Day," an official release from the party stated. Led by Yeddyurappa, the BJP will stage a black flag protest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Bengaluru's Ananda Rao Circle.

A day after being sworn in, i.e. on Thursday, Kumaraswamy will face a floor test, after which the Congress and JD(S) will decide on portfolio and ministry allocations. As per an official release, of 34 ministerial berths, the Congress will hold 22, while the JD(S) will hold 12, including the CM. The Congress' KR Ramesh Kumar will be the Speaker of the Assembly, while a deputy Speaker will be appointed from the Congress. 

The BJP had emerged as the single-largest party in the Karnataka elections winning 104 of the 222 seats in which elections were held, but the Congress (78 seats) and the JD(S) (37 seats) managed to stitch together an alliance with 3 other MLAs, claiming a majority. While Yeddyurappa was invited to form a government first and was sworn in, he resigned before he was to prove a majority after which the Governor invited Kumaraswamy to form a government.