Shettar to take oath as Karnataka CM Thursday, power struggle continues

Bangalore - The warring factions in Karnataka's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday finally paved the way for Rural Development Minister Jagadish Shettar to take over as chief minister from D.V.Sadananda Gowda but continued to fight for a share in power.

Shettar, 56, will take oath Thursday, instead of Wednesday as announced earlier, said senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh, who came here along with Arun Jaitley late Monday to oversee leadership change.

Gowda will submit his resignation to Governor H. R. Bhardwaj Wednesday and Shettar will follow it up with staking claim to form the new government, he said.

Shettar was unanimously elected leader of the party's legislature wing Tuesday evening, after several hours of tension during the day as Gowda's supporters held up convening the meeting demanding that he be named state party chief immediately. They also demanded naming state BJP chief K. S.Eshwarappa as a deputy chief minister.

Jaitley and Rajnath Singh managed a patch-up with the Gowda group that claimed the support of around 50 of the party's 120 lawmakers in the 225-member assembly.

Jaitley, however, could not attend the legislature wing meeting as he left for Delhi on personal work.

Announcing the election of Shettar, Rajnath Singh said it was unanimous. Former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and Gowda proposed the name of Shettar which was seconded by Eshwarappa and Govind Karjol, a minister supporting Gowda, he said.

On the deputy chief minister's post, he said it is the prerogative of the chief minister, who will take a decision after consulting all concerned.

Shettar did not give any indication whether he will take oath alone or how many will be sworn in as ministers along with him.

"I will decide on all issues after consulting state and national leaders," he said.

Shettar, a four-time assembly member from Hubli rural constituency in north Karnataka, about 400 km from Bangalore, will be BJP's third chief minister in four years. He will have less than a year in office as assembly elections are due May next.

The softspoken, shy, commerce and law graduate takes over from Gowda who had pipped him to the post 11 months ago when elections were held to chose a successor to Yeddyurappa who was forced to quit over mining bribery charges.

The legislature party meeting which was scheduled for 11 a.m. at an upscale hotel, a stones throw from the Vidhana Soudha, the state assembly, was convened only around 4 p.m. as Jaitley and Rajnath Singh tried to win over Gowda's supporters and persuade them to drop their insistence on immediate acceptance of their demands.