BJP state president BS Yediyurappa was sworn in for the fourth time as the Chief Minister of Karnataka after a long tug of war with the Congress-JD(S) coalition government.

The new Chief Minister said he would hold a floor test to prove his majority in the state Assembly on July 29.

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“At the cabinet meeting held soon after I took oath as Chief Minister, I decided to go for floor test in the Assembly on Monday at 10 am, to prove majority,” the 75-year-old Yediyurappa said at a press conference in the state secretariat.

Yediyurappa is also expected to table the finance bill after the trust vote to ensure the state budget for this fiscal (2019-20) is passed by the Assembly.

Interestingly, hours before his swearing-in, the 76-year-old changed the spelling of his name from “Yeddyurappa” to “Yediyurappa”.

Soon after Yediyurappa was invited by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to form the government, he directed Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar to withhold all new projects and transfers made by the earlier JD(S)-Congress coalition government in this month.

“Yediyurappa orally instructed Bhaskar to put on hold all new projects cleared and transfers effected during this month by the previous government,” an official of the Chief Minister’s Office told IANS.

Purported reports about several multi-crore projects in infrastructure, irrigation and public works sanctioned by the HD Kumaraswamy government were making rounds since the political crisis gripped the southern state after 15 rebels of the coalition parties resigned from the assembly.

Similarly, hundreds of transfer files were reportedly signed by Kumaraswamy in the departments he was in-charge, by his PWD Minister and elder brother H.D. Revanna and other cabinet ministers of both the allies.

Earlier on Friday, Yediyurappa met Governor Vajubhai Vala to stake claim to form the government in the state.

The 14-month-old Congress-JD(S) government lost the trust vote by 105-99 in the House on Tuesday after three weeks of intense power struggle in the state.

After failing the floor test on the confidence motion he moved on July 18 during the 10-day monsoon session to prove he had the majority, Kumaraswamy resigned on July 23. Accepting his resignation, the Governor told him not to take any policy or executive decisions as a caretaker Chief Minister.

This is Yediyurappa’s fourth stint as the chief minister. His last stint was simply two-days long. He resigned as Chief Minister of Karnataka, two days after he was administered the oath of office by Governor Vajubhai Vala.

Yediyurappa, also known as BSY, became the chief minister of Karnataka for the first time in 2007. But he could not hold on to the post as his government fell within seven days. He became the CM for the second time when he led his party to victory in the 2008 Karnataka Assembly elections and this time he occupied the chief ministerial office for 39 months.

Meanwhile, according to a report in Hindustan Times, the BJP is likely to seek the removal of Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar who on Thursday disqualified three rebel MLAs – two from Congress and one Independent.