Sadananda Gowda chosen leader in secret ballot

Bangalore, August 3: Senior BJP leader D.V. Sadananda Gowda, 58, will be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka after having been elected leader of the BJP Legislature Party in a secret ballot on Wednesday. The party had witnessed sharp differences over the choice of a successor to B.S. Yeddyurappa, who resigned on Sunday.
Governor H.R. Bhardwaj appointed Mr. Gowda Chief Minister and invited him to form the 26th government. He will be sworn in on Thursday.
Given the support that he enjoys in the 13th Assembly, the Governor has refrained from asking Mr. Gowda to prove his majority on the floor of the House as is the practice. Mr. Yeddyurappa had backed Mr. Gowda for the top post.
After hectic efforts by BJP central observers - Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley - to bring about a consensus between the warring factions failed and voting was resorted to as demanded by a section of the legislators, Mr. Gowda emerged victorious. He defeated Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Jagadish Shettar, who enjoyed the support of the Bellary Ministers, among others.
It is the first time in the history of State politics that a ruling party, which enjoys a commanding majority of 120 legislators in a 224-member House had to resort to secret ballot, aimed at maintaining the party's unity and keep its government intact. While 65 legislators voted in favour of Mr. Gowda, 51 voted for Mr. Shettar and three others abstained from voting. Speaker K.G. Bopaiah cannot participate in a meeting of the Legislature Party and so are independent members supporting the ruling party.
Stakes claim
Soon after his election, Mr. Gowda called on the Governor and staked claim to form a government. He also submitted a letter (resolution adopted at the meeting of the BJP Legislature Party) addressed by the State unit president. Incidentally, Mr. Gowda is not a member of either House of the Legislature and has to get himself elected within six months as envisaged under Article 164 of the Constitution.
He is now a member of the Lok Sabha representing the Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency. In the 2004 election, he was elected from Mangalore.
The faction led by the former Union Minister, Ananth Kumar, which supported Mr. Shettar, has expressed disappointment at the verdict and is stated to be contemplating boycotting the swearing-in.
With this, the deep division within the ruling party is set to aggravate.
Mr. Gowda has started discussions with the former Chief Minister on ministry formation. (Agencies)


2011-08-03



blog comments powered by Disqus

Special News Eka Veera postponed to March 2 Hyderabad, Feb 23 (INN): The discipline of old times is gone, so it appears. When a commitment is given people used to stick to that. Arm twisting by biggies is not a new phenomenon but still there was respect for values. Now everything is done in a huff, from launch to pack-up, audio to result. What is more surprising is films are getting delayed, postponed and badly bruised. Of late there have been many films that deferred the date of release due to what has come to be known as post production work. Announcing the date first and working at breakneck speed has become a fad which will have its ill-effects. There could oth ... Read More

Latest Headlines Indian Muslim leaders urge India to scale down ties with Israel When it comes to Urdu and Hyderabadi, there is no one to support Jan Lokpal, cure worse than the disease - Kapil Sibal Ready to support any Muslim for chief minister's post: Raja Bundela Hyderabad Metro invites designs from practising architects Errabelli raps KCR for talking about 2014 polls State tops in implementation of MGNREGP: CM PC's consensus exposed govt's bankruptcy: Kishen Never promised Centre to get T resolution: Rosaiah

Heroes on screen, not off-screen - Lates Honesty is the Best policy - Hats off fo Injustice towards Urdu in secretariat The hope for the world exists through th