Seventy-five-year-old Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa (BSY), the lingayat strongman of the BJP in Karnataka, was sworn in as the 23rd Chief Minister of the State on Thursday at Glass House of the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah were conspicuous by their absence.
Yeddyurappa was administered the oath of office by Governor Vajubhai R Vala in a brief three-minute function.
Yeddyurappa said he was confident of proving the majority on the floor of the House at the earliest. He said, “I am 100 per cent sure of the success. I don’t need 15 days and will prove majority soon. I have people’s support for me and my party.”
Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Ananth Kumar, Sadananda Gowda, JP Nadda, Dharmendra Pradhan and Murlidhar Rao were present on the occasion. Yeddyurappa took the oath after the Supreme Court, in a post-midnight hearing, decided not to put a stay on the swearing-in. He took oath in the name of God and farmers. Yeddyurappa became the Chief Minister for the third time.
Unperturbed by the Congress-JD(S) combine lawmakers’ protests in front of Gandhi statute at Vidhana Soudha against the decision of the Governor to invite him as the leader of the single largest party (BJP 104), the newly appointed Chief Minister announced a loan wavier to the tune of one lakh rupees to the farmers.
He had made this promise during his campaign and also it is part of the BJP manifesto.
He also made some administrative transfers of IAS and IPS officers. later, he went to the party office at Malleshwaram and held a meeting of his MlAs.
Yeddyurappa who stemmed from the RSS stable as a pracharak always fought for the farmers and became a mass leader. After he was caught in the whirlwind of corruption charges and dumped by the BJP, he had set up his own party, Karnataka Janata Party (KJP). The presence of the KJP in 2003 Assembly polls dented BJP lingayat votes and helped the Congress win the polls.
No one knows how Yeddyurappa is going to garner required numbers, but he is very confident of making it. Yeddyurappa’s political career began in Shikaripura, in Shivamogga which would later sent him to the Karnataka Assembly six times. It began at the taluk level of the Jansangh and he assiduously worked his way up, even being jailed during the Emergency. An arts degree-holder, Yeddyurappa has been a farmer, a clerk and has run a hardware shop. But when he was 15 he joined the RSS and till today he owes his existence to the RSS and the Sangh Parivar.
In 2006, Yeddyurappa brought down the Congress-JD(S) coalition Government and helped HD Kumaraswamy became the Chief Minister as per 20:20 formula and he became the Deputy Chief Minister. When it was time for swap, the JD(S) reneged on the deal and the BJP walked out of the Government leading to President’s Rule. After a truce he headed a Government for seven days and the President’s Rule was imposed.
In May 2008, he became the Chief Minister with a thin margin and consolidated it by poaching on MlAs. His strategy became famous as Operation lotus, which was also facilitated by Reddy brothers. He had to resign after he was indicted in illegal mining scandal and went to jail for few days.
The Governor on Wednesday invited Yeddyurappa to form the Government, as the saffron party has emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats. Along with one Independent MlA, the BJP staked the claim to form the Government. However, they are still short of the halfway mark of 112 by seven MlAs. The Congress-JD(S) alliance has 117 MlAs.