Karnataka will get a new chief minister on Wednesday, two days after former CM BS Yediyurappa resigned from the post. On Tuesday evening, Basavrav Bommai, the state home minister, was elected as leader in the legislature party meeting. Along with Bommai, three leaders - Govind Karjol, R Ashok and Sri Ramalu - will also take oath as Deputy Chief Ministers. The swearing-in will take place on Wednesday at 11 am.
Bommai, 61, is said to be a close aide of ex-CM BS Yeddyurappa. He is an engineer by profession, he has been a minister in both cabinets of Yeddyurappa. He left the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) and joined BJP in the year 2008 and has remained in the party since then. He understands the policies of BJP very well and does not shy away from following any decision as per the party rules.
Bommai is soft-spoken and has a great command of his language. He is proficient in all three languages Kannada, Hindi, and English. He is believed to have good relations with Amit Shah. The only thing that goes against Bommai is that he is not from the RSS. Before joining the BJP, he had been MLA from Janata Dal-Secular twice.
The new Chief Minister will be taking an oath on Wednesday and the cabinet will be formed after a while. Sources have informed that the party high command is in no mood to waste any time in the process of announcing a new chief minister.
On Monday, Yediyurappa had resigned as Karnataka Chief Minister. He was seen breaking down on the stage just before the announcement.
"I have debt to pay back to the people of Karnataka. I told officers and MLAs that people have lost trust in all of us. We should work harder and in a clean honest way. Many officials are honest. All should become that. Bangalore is being developed into a world-class city," he had said.
