From 'kingmaker' to the 'king': Kumaraswamy sworn in as Karnataka chief minister

HD Kumaraswamy was on Wednesday sworn in as the Karnataka chief minister, who will head the JDS-Congress coalition government. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Vajubhai Vala.

Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala administers the oath to JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy as Karnataka Chief Minister during the swearing-in ceremony, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

BENGALURU: HD Kumaraswamy was on Wednesday sworn in as the Karnataka chief minister, who will head the JDS-Congress coalition government. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Vajubhai Vala at a grand ceremony in the Vidhana Soudha complex. State Congress chief and prominent Dalit leader G Parameshwara took oath as the deputy chief minister. Before and after the Karnataka polls, Kumaraswamy's JDS was projected as the kingmaker. Most of the opinion and exit polls also predicted the same. However, in the run-up to the elections, Kumaraswamy had said: "I will be the king and not the kingmaker." The words of the 58-year-old Vokkaliga leader on Wednesday proved prophetic after he was made the chief minister despite his JDS finishing a poor third in the electoral battlefield. The day when the poll results were out and the BJP emerged as the single largest party, the Congress was quick to offer support to the JDS and agreed for the chief ministerial post to Kumaraswamy. Kumaraswamy quickly lapped up the opportunity and staked claim to form the government. Governor Vajubhai Vala, however, swore-in BJP's BS Yeddyurappa to form the government as the leader of the single largest party in the 224-member Assembly, whose effective strength is 221. On Saturday, BJP's BS Yeddyurappa had stepped down as the chief minister without facing the floor test in the state Assembly as his party fell short of numbers, following which Kumaraswamy met state Governor Vajubhai Vala and was invited to form the government. Kumaraswamy has proved right the adage that politics is the art of the possible, and now the science graduate has to get his chemistry right with the Congress to ensure his government's longevity. (With inputs from PTI)