He was elected as leader of the BJP legislature party through secret ballot here Wednesday. The exact number of votes polled by the rival candidates was not immediately available. Gowda beat Jagadish Shettar in a straight contest after the party central leaders failed to evolve a consensus on the successor issue.
The 58-year-old non-controversial leader from the coastal region, who incidentally will be the second chief minister from the coastal region after M Veerappa Moily, will be sworn in on Thursday evening.
DVS, as Sadananda Gowda is commonly known by his initials, does not have any administrative experience. True, he has been elected as MLA twice and has now become Lok Sabha member for the second time, the first time being from Mangalore. He also has the distinction of serving as the deputy opposition leader under his rival Jagadish Shettar during 1999-2004 and has served as the State party chief from 2007-10 and led the party to victory in the 2008 assembly polls. He, incidentally, took over as the state BJP president after Yeddyurappa became deputy chief minister in the JD(S)-BJP coalition regime led by H D Kumaraswamy.
Sadanand Gowda’s name was proposed by Yeddyurappa who had to vacate his seat over Lokayuktha report which indicted him in illegal mining issue. Talking to reporters after his election, Sadanand Gowda thanked party leaders and MLAs for reposing faith in him. He promised to give good and people friendly administration and said he will carry forward the programme of his predecessor. Later Sadanand Gowda met the Governor to seek a date for his swearing in.
The 58-year old Gowda, who was elected by the BJP party legislators, will succeed BS Yeddyurappa who had to resign as the Lokayukta indicted him in the illegal mining scam.
The Karnataka governor also sanctioned the launch of criminal proceedings against outgoing chief minister BS Yeddyurappa for corruption. The permission followed outgoing Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde’s recommendation that Yeddyurappa be tried for corruption in a huge illegal mining scam.
Bhardwaj sent a communication to the Lokayukta registrar, just before Hegde’s successor, Shivaraj Virupanna Patil, took over as Karnataka’s new ombudsman
However Yeddyurappa still remained defiant even after laying down his office. In an informal meeting with state government officials he made a statement that he would return as chief minister after six months.
Video footages beamed by TV channels showed one unidentified official telling Yeddyurappa how it had been a pleasure to work with him. And the BJP leader’s response was that he would be back as the state chief minister in six months.
The remark by Yeddyurappa, who was forced to step down on Sunday, set tongues wagging as to whether it was said in jest or seriousness.
Yeddyurappa, who has been reportedly told by BJP central leadership that he will have a say in choosing his successor, has been solidly backing Udupi-Chikkamagalur member of Parliament D V Sadananda Gowda for the CM’s post.
Yeddyurappa’s comments came on a day when he moved the Karnataka High Court seeking quashing of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining and questioned its recommendations to prosecute him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Hours before Lokayukta Santosh Hegde demitted office, Yeddyurappa, who is nursing hopes that he will be absolved of all charges, simultaneously filed a petition with the anti-corruption watchdog seeking a review of its report.
Yeddyurappa contended in the petition that the stigma attached to him by his indictment would continue to haunt him and pleaded for an opportunity to prove his innocence.
In the election for the chief ministership in the state BJP legislature party, Gowda defeated Jagadish Shettar who was propped up by the rival camp led by BJP National General Secretary HN Ananth Kumar in a straight contest after the party central leaders failed to evolve a consensus on the successor issue.
The election brought out the sharp division in BJP’s state unit with Yeddyurappa aggressively pushing for Gowda’s candidature after being asked to step down as Chief Minister following his indictment in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.
An affable and non-controversial figure, Gowda, a former state unit chief,is a Lok Sabha member from Udupi-Chikmagalur.
He has also served as Deputy Opposition leader in the assembly.
After Yeddyurappa’s exit, party’s central observers Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh had tried to build a consensus on his successor but the rival factions stuck to their guns forcing a showdown.
The election of Gowda, who is not a member of either House of the Legislature, has clearly demonstrated the hold Yeddyurappa has over legislators and his command over the party in the state.
Yeddyurappa’s opponents in the party led by National General Secretary H N Ananth Kumar and state unit party President K S Eswarappa had opposed Gowda’s nomination on the ground that Yeddyurappa was trying to rule by proxy.
The anti-Yeddyurappa camp proposed the name of Jagadish Shettar, who has been a contender for the Chief Minister’s post for a long time.
Leaders of both factions, leaving nothing to chance, indulged in the numbers game and ferried their loyalist MLAs to separate star hotels in an attempt to guard them from being poached.
Minutes before the Legislature party meeting,Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar supporters brought their group of MLAs to the meeting venue in buses, an action which also brought to the fore the groupism in the state unit.