Yeddyurappa to head 30 member BJP ministry(update- Yeddyurappa)

Bangalore, May 30 : A thirty member Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministry headed by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa was sworn into office on friday by Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur.

The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Vidhana Soudha.

The ministers who were sworn in are Govind Karjol, K S Eswarappa, V S Acharya, C M Udashi, Ramchandra Gowda, Dr Mumtaz Ali Khan, R Ashok, S A Ravindra Nath, G Janardhan Reddy, Visveshwara Hegde Kageri, B N Bachhe Gowda, G Karunakara Reddy, B Sreeramulu, Basavaraj Bommai, Shoba Karandlaje, Suresh Kumar, Reve Naik Belamagi, Krishna Palimar, ES EN Krishnaiyya Shetty, Arvind Limbavali, P Vekatramanappa, Narendra Swamy, H Halappa, D Sudhakar, Lakshman Savadi, Gulihatti Shekhar, Rudrappa Nirani, S K Bellubi and Shivaraj Tangadagi.

Mr Yeddyurappa was sworn into office in the name of farmers and god. Shobha Karandlaje was the only woman included in the cabinet, though three women from the party have tasted victory in the elections.

Mumtaz Ali Khan, a senior vice president of the State BJP unit, also took oath, even though he is neither member of the Legislative Council nor the Assembly.

Among the other members of the council of ministers are Dr Acharya, Ramachandra Gowda, Janardhan Reddy. Yeddyurappa also inducted five independent members into his ministry who had extended support to his government.

Eight of the ministers sworn were also part of the previous Janata Dal (Secular) JDS-BJP coalition Government.The ceremony lasted 30 minutes.

Prominent leaders like BJP President Rajnath Singh, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani, Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi, Senior BJP leader from Maharashtra Gopinath Munde, and NDA convenor George Fernandes were present.

State Congress leaders Mallikarjuna Kharge, R V Deshpande and the Speaker of the previous Assembly Krishna also witnessed the ceremony.

ANI