Fake invite for Karnataka CM's oath ceremony goes viral

By: Praveen Kumar
May 18 2023

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Context

An image of what appears to be an official government invite to the oath ceremony of the Karnataka Chief Minister is circulated on social media, It claims that Siddaramaiah has been officially appointed as the state’s next CM and that the oath ceremony is taking place at the “Kantirava stadium, Bengaluru” on May 18, 2023, at 3:30 p.m. The invite is allegedly from the office of the Governor of Karnataka and it has no signature.

In Fact

We found no such invite or circular from the Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot’s office. The invite in question is not shared by the Congress Party on any of their official websites or social media handles. The text of the invite is in multiple colors - black, blue, red, and green. Official government circulars and letters do not contain such multi-colored text in them. Also, the venue of the ceremony is spelled slightly incorrectly - “Kantirava Stadium” instead of Sree Kanteerava Stadium, which is in Bengaluru.

Congress Member of Parliament K. C. Venugopal officially announced on May 18, 2023, that Siddaramaiah has been chosen to be appointed as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, and D. K. Shiv Kumar as the Deputy Chief Minister.

Logically Facts contacted the Governor’s office and got confirmation that there is no oath ceremony on May 18 and that the Governor’s office has not issued any such invite or circular. Karnataka Congress spokesperson Aishwarya Mahadev told Logically Facts the viral image of the May 18 invite is fake. She said the oath ceremony is to be held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium as always, on Saturday, May 20.

According to an official message sent out to the media by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s team, the oath-taking ceremony will be held on May 20, and not May 18 - “Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge working through the midnight breakthroughs the political situation of Karnataka and arrives at a consensus for Karnataka government formation. Siddaramaiah to be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka, D. K. Shiv Kumar to take oath as Deputy Chief Minister. Oath Ceremony to be held in Bengaluru on 20th of May at 12:30 p.m. CLP Meeting today evening at 7 p.m. in Bengaluru.”

The Verdict

Congress has decided to appoint Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka CM and D.K. Shiv Kumar as the Deputy CM. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled on May 20, 2023, in the early afternoon. A fake invite is circulated online claiming the ceremony is on May 18 and at a different time. Therefore we mark this claim false.