Yeddyurappa takes oath in name of god, farmers

Bengaluru, May 17

Draped in a green shawl on his white safari suit, BS Yeddyurappa took the oath as Karnataka chief minister on Thursday in the name of God and farmers amid chants of ‘Modi, Modi’ and sloganeering at the Raj Bhavan.

The venue was all decked up for the culmination of a dramatic turn of events that had unfolded since the fractured mandate on May 15 with the BJP emerging as the single largest party but falling short of majority.

As Governor Vajubhai Vala administered Yeddyurappa the oath of secrecy and office, the man of the moment chose to take oath in the name of God and the farmers of Karnataka.

The 75-year old Lingayat strongman, who became chief minister for a second time, was projected in the run-up to assembly election as ‘Raitha Bandhu’, the friend of the farmers.

Before leaving for Raj Bhavan, Yeddyurappa paid his obeisance at the Radhakrishna Temple here. He was accompanied by  sons BY Raghavendra and BY Vijayendra, senior party functionaries, including union ministers DV Sadananda Gowda and Prakash Javadekar and BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao.

Amid Vedic hymns and playing of musical instrument Naadaswaram, the special prayers were performed.

After the swearing-in, Yeddyurappa drove to the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, and bowed at the entrance steps before entering his office as the new chief minister of the state. PTI