Ending political uncertainties that was going on for over a month, BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa took oath as the new chief minister of Karnataka. The BJP had staked claim to form the government with the governor earlier in the day, and took the oath of office and secrecy in the evening.
Karnataka: BJP State President BS Yediyurappa takes oath as Chief Minister at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/5tEFE8GnHN
— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2019
Only the chief minister took oath today forming the new government, the rest of the ministry is expected to be decided in the next few days.
The 14-month-old Congress-JDS government led by HD Kumaraswamy fell on Tuesday after it lost the trust vote in the assembly. The coalition government had lost the majority after 16 MLAs from both the parties had turned rebel and resigned from the assembly.
This is it the third time Yeddyurappa has become CM of the state. He had formed the first BJP government in Karnataka in 2008, but had to resign in 2001 after being indicted on corruption charges. He was acquitted by the courts later. After the Assembly elections last year, he had taken oath as the CM as BJP was the largest party although it didn’t cross the halfway mark. He was given only 24 hours to prove his majority by the Supreme Court, but he had resigned before taking the trust vote, as BJP didn’t have the numbers.
At present BJP has 105 MLAs, and although that is still less than the halfway mark of full-strength assembly, 3 MLAs are disqualified by the speaker and 14 others have resigned who are not accepted to present at the voting or vote against BJP. Therefore, till the byelections for seats vacated by disqualified and resigned MLAs are held, BJP will have the number in the house.
