Lok Sabha member DV Sadananda Gowda will be the new Chief Minister of Karnataka,with his election today as leader of the BJP legislature party in secret ballot, in a victory to the BS Yeddyurappa camp.
The exact number of votes polled by the rival candidates was not immediately available.
Gowda (58) beat Jagadish Shettar who was propped up by the rival camp led by BJP National General Secretary HN Ananth Kumar in a straight contest after the party central leaders failed to evolve a consensus on the successor issue.
The election brought out the sharp division in BJP's state unit with Yeddyurappa aggressively pushing for Gowda's candidature after being asked to step down as Chief Minister following his indictment in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.
An affable and non-controversial figure, Gowda, a former state unit chief,is a Lok Sabha member from Udupi-Chikmagalur. He has also served as Deputy Opposition leader in the assembly.
After Yeddyurappa's exit, party's central observers Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh had tried to build a consensus on his successor but the rival factions stuck to their guns forcing a showdown.
