The Hindu : Front Page : Yeddyurappa invited to form government

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Saturday, Nov 10, 2007
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Yeddyurappa invited to form government

B.S. Satish Kumar

JD(S) pressures Kumaraswamy to be Deputy Chief Minister

BANGALORE: In an end to the month-long political uncertainty, a Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government will be formed in Karnataka with the swearing in of the joint BJP-Janata Dal(Secular) legislature party leader B.S. Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister on Monday.

The ceremony is scheduled for 12 noon in front of the Vidhana Soudha here. With this, the BJP will have its first Chief Minister in a southern State.

President’s Rule imposed on the State on October 9 was revoked on Thursday.

Under the power-sharing pact, the BJP will have 16 Ministers and the JD(S) 18.

According to a senior JD(S) leader, the coalition partners will swap the portfolios they held for 20 months in the H. D. Kumarswamy-led government. The only exceptions are Public Works and Energy that will remain with the JD(S) and Irrigation, which will be with the BJP.

On Friday Governor Rameshwar Thakur formally invited the 64-year-old Yeddyurappa to form the government.

Mr. Yeddyurappa and Mr. Kumaraswamy, who called on the Governor in the evening, told reporters that they would seek an early floor test. The post of Deputy Chief Minister will be held by the JD(S).

A legislature party meeting on Sunday will decide on the candidate. The party legislators are pressuring Mr. Kumaraswamy to accept the post.

The BJP is planning a grand swearing-in ceremony. Its central leaders will arrive by a chartered plane from Delhi on Monday.

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