Bangalore: DV Sadananda Gowda has taken the oath today as the chief minister of Karnataka. The swearing-in ceremony took place at 1630 hours with Governor HR Bhardwaj administering the oath of office and secrecy to Gowda.
But the swearing-in ceremony also brought to the fore differences within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as Jagadish Shettar, who lost to Gowda in the voting to elect the new chief minister following BS Yeddyurappa’s resignation, skipping the swearing-in ceremony.
The 58-year-old Gowda had in fact gone to Shettar’s home this morning after the pro-shettar faction threatened to boycott the swearing-in ceremony.
However, Gowda’s other rivals Ananth Kumar and BJP state president KS Eshwarappa attending the swearing-in ceremony Gowda decided to advance his swearing-in by a day, in view of President Pratibha Patil’s three-day visit to Bangalore starting from August 5.
A Vokkaliga by caste, Gowda is a Yeddyurappa loyalist and a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh man. He is two-time MLA and two-time Lok Sabha MP.
Gowda was Karnataka state BJP president from 2007-2010 but he had never been a minister in the state government.
Yeddyurappa had to resign following allegations against him in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.
