Yeddyurappa sworn in as Karnataka Chief Minister

BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa was yesterday sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka along with 29 Ministers, marking the installation of saffron party’s first full-fledged Government in South India.

Yeddyurappa was administered the oath of office as Karnataka’s Chief Minister by Governor Rameshwar Thakur in front of the majestic Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore in front of a large number of BJP supporters, who had arrived from various parts of the State.

Five out of the six independent MLAs, who had extended support to the BJP Government figured among the Ministers in Yeddyurappa’s Cabinet. BJP state unit’s senior Vice President Mumtaz Ali Khan, who is neither a member of the Legislative Council nor the Legislative Assembly, also took oath as Cabinet rank Minister.

Shobha Karandlaje, an MLA from Bangalore City, was the lone woman to be sworn in on Friday. Three newly-elected MLAs from Bellary district including iron ore mine owners G Janardhan Reddy and his brother Karunakar Reddy, besides former Minister B Sriramulu also made it to the Cabinet.

Eight out of the 29 Ministers, who were sworn in yesterday, had served the JD (S)-BJP coalition Government.

A notable exclusion from the BJP Cabinet was former Minister Jagadish Shettar, who had been tipped to become the Speaker of the new Assembly. However, Shettar told reporters after the swearing in ceremony that he had rejected the party leadership’s offer to become the Speaker. “I wish to serve the people of the state as a Minister. I am not interested in the post of the Speaker”, he said.

Yeddyurappa is expected to go in for another expansion of the Cabinet in the next few days, as there was room for four more members in the Ministry, which has a ceiling of 34 including the Chief Minister.

The list of new Ministers, who were sworn in on Friday, included former Ministers Govind Karjol, K S Eshwarappa, V S Acharya, C M Udasi, Ramachandra Gowda, R Ashok, B Sriramulu, B N Bacche Gowda.

Newly elected MLAs S A Ravindranath, Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Basavaraj Bommai, Suresh Kumar, Revu Naik, Krishna Palimar, Krishnayya Shetty, Arvind Limbavali, H Halappa, Lakshman Savadi, Rudrappa Nirani and S K Bellubi.

The five independents, who made it to the Ministry, are P Venkataramanappa, Narendra Swamy, D Sudhakar, Gulihatti Shekar and Shivaraj Tangadagi.
The swearing in ceremony, which lasted barely half an hour, was witnessed by a galaxy of BJP central leaders including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani, BJP’s national President Rajnath Singh, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, besides National Democratic Alliance (NDA) convenor George Fernandes.