Gowda stakes claim. Promise to work for the development of Karnataka

Gowda stakes claim. Promise to work for the development of Karnataka

Mangalore Today / PTI

Bangalore, Aug 3 : D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Wednesday staked claim to form the Bharatiya Janata Party’s BJP second government in Karnataka following his election as the legislative party leader in a secret ballot vote.

The 58-year-old Gowda met Governor H.R. Bhardwaj at Raj Bhavan and staked claim to form the government with a supporting letter that declared him as the party’s newly elected leader in the state legislative assembly.

Accompanied by party’s central observer Rajnath Singh and state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa, Gowda drove to Raj Bhavan from a nearby star-hotel where the BJP’s members of the state legislative assembly met for the election.

Gowda’s election was marked by jubilant celebrations and bursting of crackers outside the venue in the city centre by the party’s boisterous cadres and hundreds of supporters, leading to traffic snarls and chaos on cross-roads on a cloudy and breezy day.
"The date and time of taking oath of office will be decided soon in consultation with party’s leaders at the central and state level. The governor will be duly informed if Gowda only will be sworn-in or along with other legislators as his cabinet ministers," a party source said.

D.V. Sadananda Gowda will be the second chief minister from coastal Karnataka, after a gap of nearly 17 years. 

The first chief minister from the area was M. Veerappa Moily, now corporate affairs minister in the central government. Moily was chief minister between Nov 19, 1992, and Dec 11, 1994. While Moily was minister for four times and leader of opposition in the state assembly between 1975 and 1992 before becoming chief minister, Gowda has no experience as minister.

"I thank the party high command, all senior leaders and legislators for electing me and reposing confidence in me. "I would like to give a good government...pro-development and people-friendly government and infrastructure-oriented government in the coming two years", Gowda told a press meet soon after being elected leader of the BJP legislature party.

He said he would strive to continue to the "fullest extent" several development and welfare programmes initiated by the B S Yeddyurappa government in the last three years and seek to speed them up.

"I intend to unite the entire party and take everybody into confidence and make the administrative machinery smooth", Gowda said. "There is a need to create a system where common people live with dignity and self-respect", Gowda said.

 

 

Thanking former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and other state leaders for electing him, Gowda said the ruling party has already initiated several socio-economic and welfare schemes since it came to power in the state for the first time over three years ago (since May 2008). "I will announce my action plan after assuming office," Gowda said.

In a related development, contender for the top post Jagadish Shettar, who lost to Gowda in the secret ballot at the stormy legislature party meeting by a mere eight votes, said he would extend full cooperation to the chief minister-elect.
"I congratulate Gowda for being elected as the party’s legislative leader by our legislators and support the government to serve the people during the remaining 22 months of the tenure. I would also like to thank central observers, state leaders, legislators who voted for me and the people who wished me," Shettar told media later.

As Gowda is the party’s Lok Sabha member from Udupi-Chickmaglur constituency, he has to get elected to the assembly or be nominated to the council within the next six months to continue as the chief minister.
Gowda, who hails from Dakshina Kannada in the coastal area, belongs to the politically influential Vokkaliga community in the state while Shettar, 56, is from the dominant Lingayat community as Yeddyurappa.

Scam-hit B.S. Yeddyurappa resigned as the party’s first chief minister in south India Sunday following his indictment by the state’s anti-graft ombudsman (Lokayukta) in the multi-crore mining scam.

He was backed by the Yeddyurappa faction since Sunday while Shettar was backed by the rival faction headed by the party’s Lok Sabha member from Bangalore South Ananth Kumar and the party’s state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa.