Karnataka CM Shettar promises good governance

Bangalore - Jagadish Shettar, who was sworn in as Karnataka's Chief Minister on Thursday, has promised to give a transparent and corruption free government.

"We will give a good government. We will give a transparent and corruption free government. And our immediate attention is to tackle the drought situation in Karnataka, that is our first priority," said Shettar.

"Wherever there is the problem of drinking water, already our government machinery is working. We are going to proceed immediately," he added.

Shettar, who has the backing of former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, became the third BJP chief minister in the state in four years since the party came to power there in 2008.

Fifty-six year-old Lingayat leader Shettar was sworn-in earlier today along with a full-fledged team of 33-member ministerial team that included 11 new faces and two deputy chief ministers- Party State President K. S. Eshwarappa and former Home Minister R. Ashok.

This is the first time that the state is having two deputy chief ministers, while five previous governments had single deputy chief ministers.

Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj administered the oath of office to the new ministers at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here, which was attended by Sadananda Gowda, Yeddyurappa and BJP General Secretary Anant Kumar.

The leaders who took oath of office today are: K. S. Eshwarappa and R. Ashok (Deputy Chief Ministers), Govind Karjol, Umesh Katti, C. M. Udasi, Suresh Kumar, Visveshwara Hegde Kageri, Shobha Karandlaje, Murugesh Nirani, B. N. Bachche Gowda, C. P. Yogeshwar, V. Somanna, M. P. Renukacharya, S. A. Ravindranath, S. A. Ramdas, Balachandra Jharkiholi, Anand Asnotikar, A. Narayanaswamy, Revunayak Belamagi, Varthur Prakash, Raju Gowda (who were part of the earlier dispensation); S. K. Bellubbi, C. T. Ravi, D. N. Jeevaraj, Sogadhu Shivanna, Arvind Limbavali, B. J. Puttaswamy, Appachchu Ranjan, Anand Singh, Kalakappa Bandi, Kota Srinivas Poojary and Sunil Valyapure.

The appointment of Shettar as Karnataka's chief minister can be viewed as a major victory for state BJP strongman Yeddyurappa, who has not been allowed to reclaim the chief minister's chair, as he continues to battle charges of illegal mining leveled against him by the Karnataka Lokayukta.

Gowda resigned as state chief minister yesterday after a tenure of eleven months, making way for Shettar.

The takeover, however, was far from smooth, as supporters of Gowda staged protests and demanded appropriate posts for him and other key leaders supporting the outgoing chief minister.

The BJP, which is trying hard to balance caste and community aspirations as it prepares for Assembly elections less than 10 months away, may pacify Gowda by making him the state president of the party.

The crisis in the Karnataka BJP intensified last week after nine ministers resigned from the State Cabinet, thereby projecting a show of strength in their campaign for ousting Gowda.
 
The ministers, however, withdrew their resignations later following a decision of BJP leadership that there would be a change in chief ministership in the state.