Jagadish Shettar sworn in as Karnataka chief minister

Jagadish Shettar, a Lingayat leader backed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader B S Yeddyurappa, was on Thursday sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka.

The swearing-in ceremony took place in the absence of the entire Opposition, which decided to stay away.

Shettar has retained all members of the Gowda ministry. All the ministers have been given Cabinet rank.

Shettar's cabinet will have 32 legislators, who were also sworn in on Thursday.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by former chief ministers Sadananda Gowda and B S Yeddyurappa, who did not speak with each other.

State unit BJP president K S Eshwarappa and R Ashoka, who was a member of the D V Sadananda Gowda cabinet, were worn in as deputy chief ministers by Governor H R Bhardwaj.

After the ceremony, Shettar said he would strive to give an honest, transparent and corruption-free government, while addressing his maiden press conference.

He said his government would give top priority to tackling severe drought in many districts and step up relief works, adding that the government would pay greater attention on the supply of drinking water in scarcity-hit areas.

"We will take everybody into confidence. Our objective is to give good governance by working together," said Shettar.

Shettar said his aim would be towards building a prosperous Karnataka, and making it a front-line and model state. His government would try to remove regional imbalances and focus on balanced development by not discriminating against any district.

"We will give a stable government," he said.

With inputs from PTI