Thiruvananthapuram, 18 May (H.S.): Kerala is set to witness a high-profile political gathering on Monday as the swearing-in ceremony of the new UDF government led by Chief Minister-designate V.D. Satheesan is expected to draw a long list of national and state leaders to the capital city.

Senior Congress leaders including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi are expected to arrive in Thiruvananthapuram around 9 a.m. on a special flight to attend the ceremony. AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, who had returned to Alappuzha on Friday, is also scheduled to reach the state capital in the morning.

The event is expected to witness the presence of several prominent Congress-ruled state leaders as well. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu are also expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony. Congress leaders said these dignitaries are likely to arrive in Thiruvananthapuram on special flights.

Preparations at the Central Stadium, where the ceremony will take place, have been completed. Organisers have arranged around 15,000 seats for the public and invited guests. Additional seating facilities have also been provided in the stadium gallery. In view of possible rain, protective roofing arrangements have been installed across the venue.

Officials involved in the arrangements said the surge in the number of people reaching the venue during the final stages of preparation created logistical challenges. The Public Works Department has erected a massive central pavilion for the ceremony and, considering the expected crowd, two additional smaller pavilions have also been set up. Seating for all attendees has been distributed across the three structures.

Congress leaders in the district are planning to turn the swearing-in of the first UDF government in a decade into a celebratory event. Mandalam committees across various areas are organising sweet and payasam distribution programmes, while giant screens are being installed at different locations across the city to enable supporters to watch the ceremony live. Transportation arrangements have also been made for party workers attending the event.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman