Bangalore: BJP MP DV Sadananda Gowda will take oath on Thursday as Karnataka Chief Minister succeeding scam-hit BS Yeddyurappa, whose prosecution in a graft case was approved by Governor HR Bhardwaj on Wednesday.
The 58-year-old Gowda was elected the BJP legislature wing leader in a secret ballot amid high drama that exposed cracks in the ruling party that took power for the first time in Karnataka in May 2008.
He defeated Rural Development Minister Jagdish Shettar narrowly. Gowda got 63 votes and Shettar 55 as 118 legislators took part in the voting to decide a successor to Yeddyurappa, who quit Sunday after being indicted for corruption by the Karnataka ombudsman, N Santosh Hegde.
Soon after the election Gowda met Bhardwaj and staked claim to form the government. The governor accepted the claim.
Gowda will be administered the oath of office and secrecy at Raj Bhavan at 4.30 pm on Thursday.
He is likely to take oath alone as differences have cropped up in the party in the wake of a bitter fight to be the party’s second Chief Minister in a little over three years.
Shettar and legislators supporting him are meeting at his house on Thursday morning for breakfast amid speculation they will decide whether to attend the swearing in of Gowda or not.
Bhardwaj gave the sanction to ‘initiate criminal proceedings’ against Yeddyurappa before the swearing in of Shivaraj Virupanna Patil as the new ombudsman of Karnataka. Hegde’s five-year term ended on Tuesday.
Gowda, a known Yeddyurappa loyalist, will be the BJPs’ second Chief Minister in a little over three years and will have 22 months in office. (IANS)