IANS

Bangalore, Nov 14: Karnataka's new Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will seek a trust vote in the  assembly on Nov 19 on Governor Rameshwar Thakur's advice.

Yeddyurappa, who took over as chief minister Monday at the head of a coalition with the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), had announced that he would seek a trust vote on Nov 23. However, Thakur told him Tuesday morning that he should do so before Nov 20.

"We will convene the assembly on Nov 19 and I will move the confidence motion the same day," Yeddyurappa told reporters after his five-member all-BJP cabinet had an emergency meeting to consider Thakur's suggestion.

Yeddyurappa, the first BJP chief minister in the south, now has to persuade partner JD-S to have its ministers sworn in before Nov 19.

The JD-S will get the post of deputy chief minister and 17 ministerial berths as per the power sharing arrangement between the two parties. The party did not allow any of its legislators to take oath Monday as it wants all its 18 ministers to take oath in one go.

The party has not been able to choose its nominees from among its 51 legislators as there are too many aspirants for the ministerial posts.

There is a tussle in the party for the deputy chief minister's post as well. While most legislators want former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to hold the post, elder brother H.D. Revanna is also a strong contender. The matter has been left to be decided by their father and JD-S president H.D. Deve Gowda.

The JDS had tentatively decided that all its nominees would be sworn in on Nov 21 as the day is considered to be auspicious.

This was cited as one of the reasons by Yeddyurappa to schedule trust vote for Nov 23.

State JD-S president Merajuddin Patel said Tuesday that reports in the media that his party was thinking of extending outside support to the BJP were only speculation.

Yeddyurappa has the support of 129 legislators in the 225-member house. Of this, 79 are from his party, one is an associate member of the party and the rest are from the JD-S.