Bengaluru : Basavaraj Bommai was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka on Wednesday in a brief ceremony at Raj Bhavan.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath at the Glass House in Raj Bhavan, after Bommai was selected as the leader of the ruling party after much suspense over the successor of outgoing CM BS Yediyurappa.
Bommai took oath in the name of God, in an event attended by former CM BS Yediyurappa, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Kishen Reddy, BJP general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh, and other senior BJP leaders.
Supporters of the new CM and BJP workers gathered in large numbers at Raj Bhavan, raising slogans in support of Bommai, which reached their peak as he took oath as the CM.
Bommai’s elevation as chief minister came after prolonged suspense over the resignation of former CM Yediyurappa. Though several names had done the rounds in the week running up to BSY’s resignation, the BJP high command selected Bommai, wary of a Lingayat backlash as Yediyurappa stepped down.
Bommai, the three-time MLA of Shiggaon constituency will be CM for a little over 20 months if he completes his term. Bommai’s father, SR Bommai was also CM of the state for a brief period in the late 80s in the Janata Dal government.
Apart from the Bommai’s, the only father-son pair to have been appointed CMs of the state are HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S).