BS Yediyurappa Takes Oath As Karnataka Chief Minister, To Motion Of Confidence On Monday

Karnataka BJP President B S Yediyurappa on Friday took oath as Chief Minister for the fourth time, three days after the collapse of H D Kumaraswamy-led Congress-JD(S) government.

BJP State President BS Yediyurappa takes oath as Chief Minister at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru. ANI Photo

BENGALURU: Karnataka BJP President B S Yediyurappa on Friday took oath as Chief Minister for the fourth time, three days after the collapse of H D Kumaraswamy-led Congress-JD(S) government. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 76-year old Yediyurappa at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan. Yediyurappa alone was sworn-in. Draped in white safari suite, with a folded green shawl over his shoulders, Yediyurappa took oath in Kannada in the name of god in the presence of dignitaries, special invitees and top officials of the state, including police officers. Hundreds of party's leaders, legislators, cadres and Yediyurappa's family members were also present at the event amid tight security. Yediyurappa said he would move the motion of confidence in the assembly on July 29. "The Karnataka assembly session will be called on July 29, Monday at 10 AM for moving confidence motion and for the passage of the finance bill," he said. Speaking to reporters after holding cabinet meeting here, he said the legislative council would begin its proceedings on July 30. In a sudden development, Yediyurappa met Governor Vajubhai Vala to stake the claim and requested him to administer the oath of office and secrecy Friday itself, following which Vala invited him to form the government. "I have requested Governor to administer me oath between 6-6:15 p.m as the Chief Minister. The Governor has agreed and given me a letter," Yeddyurappa told reporters after meeting Vala at Raj Bhavan. He said, "who all are to be inducted (in the ministry), I will discuss it with our national president and inform." Yediyurappa said as he is already Leader of the Opposition, there is no need to call a Legislature Party meeting to elect him the leader. This will be the fourth stint for Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister-- the last one was after the May 2018 Assembly polls. He had to resign just three days after being sworn in, unable to muster majority after staking claim to form the government on the grounds that his party had emerged as the single largest one with 104 seats in the 225-member Assembly. Yediyurappa's claim for government formation comes a day after the Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar disqualified three rebel Congress MLAs while keeping his decision pending on the remaining 14 lawmakers. The state BJP leadership was awaiting "instructions" from party's central leadership to stake the claim for forming the government. Yediyurappa has to play a balancing act by ensuring that those within the party are not sidelined, while also accommodating the rebel Congress-JD(S) legislators, whose resignation led to the collapse of the coalition government and helped the BJP to come to power, sources said. Earlier on Thursday, Karnataka Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar disqualified two rebel Congress legislators and an Independent lawmaker with immediate effect. The Congress rebels are Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak) and Mahesh Kumatahalli (Athani) constituencies in Belagavi district, while Independent R. Shankar is (Ranebennur) in Haveri district. All the three legislators will not be able to contest any assembly or parliamentary election till May 2023, when the 5-year term of the state assembly lapses. Jarkiholi and Kumatahalli were disqualified for abstaining from the 10-day budget session of the Assembly in February against the whip issued to all party legislators on February 7. A decision on the disqualification of the remaining 10 Congress rebel legislators will be taken in the next couple of days as its process is laborious. In all, 15 rebel legislators, including 12 of the Congress and 3 of the JD-S resigned from their assembly segments between July 6-10, abstained from the 10-day monsoon session of the Assembly and defied their parties' whip to be present in the House on July 23 when the floor test was conducted on the confidence motion caretaker Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy moved and lost. In addition to the rebels, Shankar and Nagesh, who resigned as ministers on July 8, also skipped the floor test despite pledging their support to the BJP. Nagendra and another Congress legislator Srimanth Patil also did not attend the Assembly for the trust vote as they were in hospitals for treatment and informed the Speaker duly. With 20 legislators, including N. Mahesh of BSP absenting for the floor test, Kumaraswamy lost the floor test by 6 votes, as the coalition allies polled 99 against 105 by the BJP in the division of votes, which resulted in the fall of their 14-month-old coalition government.