Basavaraj Bommai sworn-in as 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka

Bengaluru, July 28: BJP leader Basavaraj S Bommai took oath as the 23rd chief minister of Karnataka at 11 am on Wednesday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) legislature party elected Basavaraj Bommai as the successor of BS Yediyurappa who resigned from the top post on Monday.

The security has been beefed up ahead oath-taking ceremony. The Bengaluru traffic police have advised people to avoid Raj Bhavan route at around 11 am as there might be traffic snarls at the time of the ceremony and finding alternative routes may be difficult.

Before the oath-taking, Basavaraj Bommai met BJP's central observer Dharmendra Pradhan and former chief minister BS Yediyurappa in Bengaluru.

Early in the morning, Bommai offered prayers at Anjaneya Swamy temple. He will take his oath as the 23rd chief minister of Karnataka at 11 am. After visiting the temple, he headed to his residence in RT Nagar.

Bommai visited the BJP state headquarters in Bengaluru. At Jagannath Bhavan, he was welcomed by state party president Nalin Kumar Kateel after which Bommai offered a floral tribute to a portrait of Bharat Mata.

"I will chair a meeting of the cabinet later today," the chief minister to-be was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. "After that, I will hold a meeting with senior officers to review the Covid-19 and flood situation in the state."

Earlier on Tuesday, Bommai said Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has invited him to form the government and he will take oath as Chief Minister at 11 AM on July 28.

"I have informed the Governor about my election as the leader of the legislature party. He has invited me to form the government. We have discussed and decided that I will take oath tomorrow at 11 AM," Bommai said.

According to the Governor's office, the oath taking ceremony will be at the Glass House in the Raj Bhavan. The 61-year-old leader also said that he alone will take the oath of office on Wednesday.

Soon after his election as the leader of the BJP legislature party, Bommai, along with caretaker Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, drove to the Raj Bhavan to stake claim to form the government. Ending months of speculation over his exit, Yediyurappa on Monday stepped down as the Chief Minister, coinciding with his government completing two years in office.

The Governor had accepted Yediyurappa's resignation and dissolved the Council of Ministers headed by him, with immediate effect, but had asked him to continue to function as Chief Minister till alternate arrangements were made.