Yeddyurappa to take oath as Karnataka CM today evening

Bengaluru, July 26 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader B.S. Yeddyurappa will take oath as Karnataka chief minister on Friday evening after he staked claim to form the new government with Governor Vajubhai Vala at the Raj Bhavan here.

"As the Governor has permitted our party (BJP) to form the government, I will be taking oath around 6-6.15 p.m. today (Friday) evening at the Raj Bhavan," a beaming Yeddyurappa told the media after meeting Vala.

Yeddyurappa met the Governor after the party's national President Amit Shah asked him to stake claim to power and swear in as chief minister today itself, a party spokesman told IANS here.

"The swearing-in ceremony of B.S. Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister of Karnataka to take place at 6.00 p.m. at the Raj Bhavan. As leader of the BJP Legislature Party, he met the Governor with his party delegates," said a communique from the Raj Bhavan.

Staking claim to form the new government in writing, Yeddyurappa told the Governor that he may be invited to form alternate government today (Friday) itself.

"I submit that I am the leader of the BJP Legislature Party and also the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly. At present, the strength of the BJP is 105 legislators in the house and is the single largest party in the 225-member House, including a nominated member," said his letter to the Governor.

The letter also mentioned that the Governor had on July 23 night directed H.D. Kumaraswamy to be care-taker chief minister till alternate arrangements were made.

Yeddyurappa will expand his Cabinet only after proving majority in the Assembly early next week.

Kumaraswamy resigned on July 23 as chief minister of his 14-month-old JD-S-Congress coalition government lost floor test in the Assembly on the confidence-motion moved to prove if he had majority following resignation of 15 of their rebel MLAs from their assembly segments across the state.

"I have invited Kumaraswamy and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Siddaramaiah for my swearing-in at the Raj Bhavan," added Yeddyurappa.

The 75-year-old saffron party leader became the BJP's first chief minister in south India after winning the April-May 2008 Assembly elections, but was forced to resign on July 31, 2011 following graft charges against him in the multi-crore mining scam that rocked the state for a decade since 2001-11.

Yeddyurappa was also chief minister for three days from May 17-19, 2018 and resigned before the floor test as his party (BJP) was nine seats short of the 113 halfway mark for a simple majority in the 225-member Assembly, including one nominated with voting right.

The party's strong leader in the politically dominant Lingayat community was also the state's chief minister for a week in November 2007 as a head of the JD-s-BJP coalition government but resigned when the former withdrew its support to Yeddyurappa.