BS Yediyurappa sworn in for the fourth time as Karnataka Chief Minister

BJP State President BS Yediyurappa was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka in Bengaluru for the fourth time on Friday. Yediyurappa was sworn in by Governor Vajubhai Vala in the presence of state leaders at the Glass House in Raj Bhavan at 6.32 pm.

The convoy arrived at Raj Bhavan at 5.57 pm. Hundreds of people had gathered outside the Governor’s residence, waiting for a glimpse of the next Chief Minister of Karnataka. With a bright green shawl draped over his shoulders, Yediyurappa was all smiles as he shook hands with his party men at the venue.

Several senior BJP leaders including the party’s National general Secretary, BL Santosh, former Chief Minister of Karnataka and former Union Minister SM Krishna, BJP’s Karnataka in-charge P Muralidhar Rao, along with the 105 MLAs and a few MPs including Tejasvi Surya and Shobha Karandlaje took part in the ceremony. Yediyurappa was the only one who was sworn in by Governor Vajubhai Vala and not the entire cabinet, as is standard practice.

Yediyurappa met with Governor Vala earlier on Friday staking claim to form the next government in Karnataka. The Governor gave Yediyurappa a one-week deadline to prove majority on the floor of the Assembly. According to BJP sources, Yediyurappa is set to prove majority in the Assembly on Monday.

This is the fourth time Yediyurappa is being sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He first assumed office on November 12, 2007. However, due to the turbulent alliance with the JD(S), Yediyurappa resigned from his post within a few days of taking up office. The BJP once again came to power in 2008 and Yediyurappa became the Chief Minister. He, however, resigned in 2011 after the fallout of the Lokayukta report on the illegal mining scam in Ballari.

Yediyurappa became the Chief Minister for two days in May 2018 after the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Elections results were announced. The BJP had emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats and Governor Vala had invited Yediyurappa to prove majority. However, the Congress and JD(S) forged an alliance and had also managed to snag the two independents on their side. Two days after he took oath as the CM, Yediyurappa resigned from his post before the motion of confidence was put to vote in the Assembly.

He took oath as the Chief Minister on Friday after the Congress-JD(S) coalition government lost the vote of confidence in the Assembly earlier on Tuesday. The coalition secured 99 votes and the BJP got 105 votes. The political crisis erupted after 16 rebel MLAs – 13 from Congress and 3 from JD(S) tendered their resignations to the Speaker, saying they were unhappy with HD Kumaraswamy’s administrative methods. Independents R Shankar and H Nagesh and the BSP MLA N Mahesh too withdrew support, thereby plunging the coalition into a minority.

Despite the ups and downs in his political career, the Lingayat strongman is still the undisputed leader within the party’s state unit. Many poll analysts are of the opinion that the swing in fortunes for the BJP in the Mumbai Karnataka region can solely be attributed to the undiminishing popularity of the 75-year-old. The BJP managed to win 26 out of 44 seats of the region, an upswing of 16 seats it won in 2013.