Karnataka Govt Formation LIVE: Yeddyurappa Sworn-in as CM Amid Protests Outside Raj Bhavan

Interestingly, only the B S Yeddyurappa has taken oath and none of the council of ministers.

Bengaluru: BJP's BS Yeddyurappa sworn-in as Chief Minister of Karnataka pic.twitter.com/TrkgFYNoPC

— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2018

As B S Yeddyurappa takes oath in Kannada, Congress president Rahul Gandhi says BJP is celebrating its "hollow victory".

The BJP’s irrational insistence that it will form a Govt. in Karnataka, even though it clearly doesn’t have the numbers, is to make a mockery of our Constitution.

This morning, while the BJP celebrates its hollow victory, India will mourn the defeat of democracy.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2018

B S Yeddyurappa takes oath.

#Karnataka: BS Yeddyurappa arrives at Raj Bhavan, to take oath as Karnataka Chief Minister shortly pic.twitter.com/IQLSPrGz2u

— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2018

B S Yeddyurappa arrives at Raj Bhawan for swearing-in ceremony.

#WATCH Live from Bengaluru: BS Yeddyurappa takes oath as Karnataka Chief Minister https://t.co/8wqUptkkvV

— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2018

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) workers chant slogans of 'Vande Mataram' and 'Modi, Modi' outside Raj Bhawan in Bengaluru as oath taking ceremony of B S Yeddyurappa as 23rd Karnataka CM to is set to begin shortly.

#WATCH BJP workers chant slogans of 'Vande Mataram and Modi, Modi' outside Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru, as oath taking ceremony of BS Yeddyurappa as Karnataka CM to is set to begin shortly pic.twitter.com/npZthZbqZd

— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2018

"BJP is the single largest party and with all past precedence the governor has called us and we will prove our majority. We will have a smooth government under B S Yeddyurappa. Siddaramaiah and Congress has been rejected," says BJP minister Ananth Kumar at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru.

I think all the precedents are with the Governor's decision. We will get the support, we will prove our majority on the floor of the House: Ananth Kumar, BJP at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/ynWOEBhxk9

— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2018

Governor Vajabhai Vala is all set to administer oath to the 23rd Karnataka chief minister even as the oath is "subject to further orders of the Supreme Court and final outcome of the writ petition".

B S Yeddyurappa leaves for Raj Bhavan to take oath as 23rd Karnataka chief minister shortly after Supreme Court refused to stay the swearing in ceremony after a rare pre-dawn hearing which saw the Congress-JD (S) combine making a last-ditch attempt to stall the saffron party's surge in the southern state.

Bengaluru: BS Yeddyurappa leaves for Raj Bhavan, to take oath as Karnataka Chief Minister shortly. pic.twitter.com/gfX5kXi698

— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2018

Security deployed outside BJP office in Bengaluru as B S Yeddyurappa is set to take oath as Karnataka's 23rd chief minister.

#Karnataka: Security deployed outside BJP office in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/6Jjo17hKy3

— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2018

A poster by Bhartiya Janta Party congratulating B S Yeddyurappa and wishing him luck for taking on the position of 23rd chief minister of Karnataka.

Celebrations begin outside B S Yeddyurappa's house as he is set to take oath as the next chief minister of Karnataka in an hour. Meanwhile, 16,000 police officers have been deployed in the city even as scores of Congress workers can be seen raising slogans outside Raj Bhawan.

The Supreme Court today refused to stay BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa's swearing-in as Karnataka Chief Minister after a rare pre-dawn hearing which saw the Congress-JD (S) combine making a last-ditch attempt to stall the saffron party's surge in the southern state. The apex court, which commenced the hearing at 2.11 AM and ended at 5.28 AM, however made it clear that the swearing-in and the government formation in the state would be subject to the final outcome of the case before it. READ FULL STORY HERE

With neither the Congress nor the BJP seeing a clear path to government formation in Karnataka, all eyes are now on governor Vajubhai Vala, the former Gujarat BJP leader who had once vacated his seat for Narendra Modi and later served as Finance Minister in CM Modi’s cabinet. Vajubhai would also recall this episode from the years gone by. In 1996, Gujarat BJP Government was dismissed by the President on the advice of the PM. Vaghela split the BJP to form government with backing of Congress. Interestingly, the name of the BJP state unit head was Vajubhai Vala and the PM was HD Deve Gowda. This was pointed out by Yashwant Deshmukh, the managing director and chief editor of Centre for Voting Opinion & Trends in Election Research (CVoter). The tables have now turned completely and it is Vajubhai who has to decide now. With JD(S) waiting in anticipation. READ FULL STORY HERE

The governor took the decision on inviting the BJP, the single largest party in the state, and not the majority coalition of JDS and Congress, after consulting with former Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi in the evening.

The stage is all set for the swearing-in ceremony of the next chief minister of Karnataka as guests can be seen arriving with bouquets and scores of them, including JP Nadda, have already occupying the chairs at Raj Bhawan. Hoardings congratulating BJP's B S Yeddyurappa can also be spotted on the way to Raj Bhawan.

"We hope we will be able to do what we want and B S Yeddyurappa will continue as the chief minister. We are the single largest party. People have refused Congress, and they cannot support JD(S) just to keep BJP from power," Union minister Sadananda Gowda tells CNN-News18

HIGHLIGHTS OF SUPREME COURT ORDER ON KARNATAKA GOVERNMENT FORMATION
Following are the highlights of the Supreme Court order refusing to stay the swearing-in of BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa in Karnataka: 

1) A bench of Justices A K Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan was specially convened at "odd hours" to hear the petition which challenges the Governor Vajubhai Vala's communication to Yeddyurappa to be sworn in as CM.
2) The bench noted that it is necessary to peruse the letters dated May 15 and May 16 submitted by Yeddyurappa to Governor for claiming stake for government formation.
3) It requested Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre and Yeddyurappa to produce these letters on next hearing tomorrow at 10.30 am.
4) The court made it clear that its order allowing swearing-in and government formation by the BJP in Karnataka is subject to the outcome of the case before it.
5) It also issued notices to the Karnataka government and Yeddyurappa as it was clarified by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi that he was appearing for three BJP MLAs -- Govind M Karjol, C M Udasi and Basavaraj Bommai.

Police have been deployed outside Raj Bhawan in Bengaluru as Bharatiya Janta Party's B S Yeddyurappa is set to take oath as Karnataka chief minister in an hour from now.

#Karnataka: Visuals from outside Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru. BS Yeddyurappa to take oath as Karnataka chief minister at 9 am. pic.twitter.com/MpF2x5aNPT

— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2018

Meanwhile, police have been deployed outside Eagleton Resort on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway where newly-elected Congress MLAs are lodged to thwart any attempts of horse-trading. However, this isn’t the first time this resort, owned by Congress leader DK Sivakumar, has played host to lawmakers under lockdown. During the Gujarat Rajya Sabha election last year, the Congress had flown its Gujarat MLAs to the resort in Bengaluru to keep them under tight watch. Congress leader Ahmed Patel had eventually won the nail-biting election, which had a photo-finish complete with cross-voting and betrayal.

Drama in Delhi over Karnataka Government Formation | The Supreme Court tonight said it was not in favour of deferring BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa's swearing-in as Karnataka Chief Minister, even as the Congress and JD (S) continued their past-midnight legal push to stall the government formation in the state. The bench was of the view that since Yeddyurappa has not made his appearance through an advocate before it, a notice has to be issued to him. Meanwhile, the youth wing of the Congress staged a protest outside Parliament House against the Centre and the decision of the Karnataka Governor to invite BS Yeddyurappa for government formation. 

RECAP | The Supreme Court has refused to stay BJP leader B S Yeddyurppa's swearing-in as Karnataka Chief Minister, paving the way for formation of his government after dramatic turn of events through the night inside and outside the courtroom that saw a rare post-midnight hearing continuing till the wee hours. Hours before the swearing-in ceremony, the apex court made it clear that the swearing-in and the government formation would be subject to the final outcome of the case before it.

Congress and JD(S) to protest outside Raj Bhawan as B S Yedyyurappa is all set to take oath as the chief minister of Karnataka. Nearly 16,000 policemen hae been posted in the city to maintain law and order as all eyes are set on formation of government in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, former finance minister P Chidambaram and senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi lauded the Supreme Court for hearing the matter overnight. While Chidambaram said in a tweet that if he were B S Yeddyurappa, he would not have taken oath until Supreme Court's hearing till tomorrow, Singhvi said BSY’s "oath is provisional".

I salute the Supreme Court. If I were Mr Yeddyurappa, I will not take oath until the hearing at 10.30 am on Friday, 18th May.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 17, 2018

Mr Yedyurappa's letter to the Governor will seal his fate. There is no mention of a number bigger than 104. The Governor's invitation does not mention any number at all!

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 17, 2018

Irrespective of merits, sc finds sufficient urgency to list at 145 pm. Shows system works irrespective if merits in getting large wheels to move at v short notice wo regard to technicalities

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) May 16, 2018

Sc deserves immeasurable kudos 4sitting 3+ half hrs frm 2am. Patient hearing par excellence. Tho no stay bench made swearing fully subject 2further orders. In a sense BSY’s oath is provisional. SC can change interim order tomm after seeing docs. Preponement of fl test also open.

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) May 17, 2018

As the drama over Karnataka government formation continues overnight, B S Yeddyurapa is set to take oath in about two hours as the court has not stayed the swearing in ceremony. "It is necessary to peruse letters dated May 15 and May 15 between the governor and B SYeddyurappa. This Court isn't staying in swearing in but this will be subject to outcome of the petition," says Supreme Court while fixing hearing tomorrow at 10.30 AM.

WAR OF WORDS STARTS | Veteran Congress leader, P Chidambaram hails the Supreme Court, tweets, “I salute the Supreme Court. If I were Mr Yeddyurappa, I will not take oath until the hearing at 10.30 am on Friday, 18th May.”

Posts a second tweet, adding, “Mr Yedyurappa's letter to the Governor will seal his fate. There is no mention of a number bigger than 104. The Governor's invitation does not mention any number at all!”

Though the power hungry JDS & Congress tried to stop the mass leader BSY from becoming CM, people of Karnataka held hand of BSY tight. Dictatorship is over now It’s the people’s government in Karnataka #BSYNammaCM

— Sadananda Gowda (@DVSBJP) May 17, 2018

BJP leader Sadanand Gowda tweets on SC order: The A team & B team tried to keep BJP out of power irrespective of people’s mandate but it’s the blessings of people of Karnataka which ensures BJP comes to power #BSYNammaCM

The governor took the decision on inviting the BJP, the single largest party in the state, and not the majority coalition of JDS and Congress, after consulting with former Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi in the evening.

Though the court didn't rule in its favour, the Congress on Thursday morning hailed the Supreme Court bench for giving the petition a patient hearing at 2am in the night.

Sc deserves immeasurable kudos 4sitting 3+ half hrs frm 2am. Patient hearing par excellence. Tho no stay bench made swearing fully subject 2further orders. In a sense BSY’s oath is provisional. SC can change interim order tomm after seeing docs. Preponement of fl test also open.

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) May 17, 2018

Congress’ Abhishek Manu Singhvi says in a tweet: SC deserves immeasurable kudos for sitting 3+ half hours from 2am. Patient hearing par excellence. Though no stay, bench made swearing fully subject to further orders. In a sense BSY’s oath is provisional. SC can change interim order tomorrow after seeing documents. Preponement of floor test also open (sic)