Karnata Governor Rameshwar Thakur on Monday morning administered the oath of office to B S Yeddyurappa amidst a mammoth crowd that had descended upon Bangalore to cheer their new leader.
Along with Yeddyurappa, four other BJP MLAs too were administered the oath of office.
Yeddyurappa, who could not stop smiling during the ceremony, said he swore upon god and the farmers' community in Karnataka that he will govern the state to the best of his ability.
The other, MLAs who were administered the oath of office were, R Ashok, Dr V S Acharya, Govind M Karjol and Jagadeesh Shettar.
The ceremony, which took place on the footsteps of the Vidhan Soudha, the seat of power at 12 noon was attended by senior BJP leaders, Lal Kishenchand Advani, Rajnath Singh and Yeshwanth Sinha. Indian Test cricket captain, Anil Kumble and his wife Chetana, former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and a host of others were present too.
The crowds that had gathered in huge numbers spread across the Vidhan Soudha and the roads of Bangalore. Traffic movement was stopped around the Vidhan Soudha area. The traffic cops numbering over 200 in number had a tough time controlling the traffic. The police had advised people to stay off the roads till 1 PM.
The BJP supporter's numbering over 60,000 people had descended upon Bangalore to cheer their leader. They came in around 400 buses from various parts of the state.
The whole of Bangalore looked a sea of orange, thanks to the saffron coloured BJP flags which were all over the city.
It was more like a festival in Bangalore with people dancing on the streets and folk songs being played. Yeddyurappa, who is seen as a farmer friendly man as he hails from the same background, was cheered on by 1000s of farmers who had gathered at the Vidhan Soudha in traditional attire.
Minutes after the swearing in, Yeddyurappa met with his supporters who were only too eager to garland him. Immediately after he took over as chief minister, he walked up to H D Kumaraswamy and the two shook hands.
Kumaraswamy is expected to be sworn in as the deputy chief minister later this week.
Yeddyurappa will head towards the Cabinet hall along with the four other MLAs who was sworn in. They will hold their first meeting at around 2 PM. No JD-S MLA will be present at this meeting.
For Yeddyurappa the job has just begun. He will now have to prove his majority on the floor of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on November 15. He will have to go through some tense moments during the week. First and foremost the JD-S has not yet announced their list of ministers and Yeddyurappa cannot commence work unless this is done. After taking the floor test, there will be more tense moments when the speaker hears the petition seeking disqualification of the 39 JD-S MLAs.
However, for now, Yeddyurappa is only smiling. He will spend some time with his family later during the day where a surprise party has been planned for him. From there he will meet with party leaders where discussions regarding the portfolios will be held.
