Bengaluru: In Karnataka, BJP chief B S Yediyurappa has been sworn in as the chief minister for the fourth time today. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to Yediyurappa. He took oath in Kannad.
On the other hand, the council of ministers will take oath later as the BJP is said to be still in the process to finalise the names of MLAs who would be part of the Yediyurappa government. Moreover, Yediyurappa has to prove his government's majority in a week's time.
This is Yediyurappa's fourth stint as the Karnataka chief minister and second in the current Assembly. He had taken oath as the Karnataka chief minister in May 2018 after the BJP emerged as the single-largest party in the state polls.
The party failed to secure support from other parties prompting Yediyurappa to resign before voting on the confidence motion. He was the chief minister for just three days.
Yediyurappa became Karnataka chief minister for the first time in 2007. The stint lasted only a week with the JDS backtracking on its promise to extending support to the government. His second stint was the longest - three years two months - between May 2008 and July 2011, when he was indicted by the Karnataka Lokayukta in a corruption case forcing him to resign.
His fourth stint has come in the backdrop of a huge defection drama - for which the Congress-JDS coalition blamed Yediyurappa - earlier this month. Eighteen of the MLAs - including two Independent -- withdrew support to the Kumaraswamy government. This brought the Congress-JDS alliance in minority in Karnataka Assembly.