Oath administered to MLAs amidst tense moments

The 15th Assembly started off on a rather sombre note with elected representatives cutting across party lines looking tense and pensive, given that there was a lot at stake.

The Congress and the BJP had herded all its MLA elects from different hotels into the House for the oath-taking ceremony by 11 am, just in time for the arrival of the pro-tem Speaker K G Bopaiah.

Chief Minister Yeddyurappa was the first to be administered oath. He took the oath in the name of God and the farmer. Former chief minister Siddaramaiah was the next to take oath. Initially, the elected members were made to take oaths in groups of five or 10, but later the elected members started taking oaths individually.

At one instance, Siddaramaiah had to intervene when Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who defected to BJP and won the Bijapur City seat, started reading out his sworn statement, even before he was administered the oath.

It was interesting to see all the three Jarkiholi brothers - Ramesh (Gokak), Satish (Yamakanamardi) and Balachandra (Arabhavi) taking oath together.

JD(S) leader H D Revanna, who is known for his superstition, was particular about taking his oath at 12.48 pm, as it was said to be an “auspicious” time. While he was taking the oath, Congress MLAs Krishna Byre Gowda and Zameer Ahmed Khan jokingly ask him what ‘muhurta’ it was. They said, “Revanna, if this is an auspicious time, why are you leaving us and taking oath alone? Don't you want us to proposer as well?”, sending the House into laughter.

Even amidst these light moments, the three important players - Kumaraswamy, Yeddyurappa and Siddaramaiah - looked worried and tense.

For, Congress MLAs Anand Singh (Vijayanagara) and Pratap Gouda Patil (Maski) had still not made it to the House to take their oaths. BJP leader Somashekar Reddy too was not present till the House adjourned for lunch at around 1.30 pm. After the House resumed at 3.30 pm, the 14 remaining elected representatives, including Reddy, Patil and Singh took their oath.

The entire mood of the House changed soon after Yeddyurappa announced his resignation, which had the Congress and JD(S) leaders jumping up in exultation. While leaders from the two parties hugged and congratulated each other, the BJP MLAs walked out in utter disgruntlement.