Shettar, 56, replaces outgoing Chief Minister D.V Sadananda Gowda and is Karnataka’s third chief minister in four years.

Shettar, who is currently the rural development and Panchayat Raj minister, will take charge of the state at a time when the ruling BJP party is in crisis over caste equations and warring factions. Karnataka is the only southern state under BJP’s rule.

Shettar’s election comes after the legislature party meeting where BJP’s senior members such as Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh brokered peace between the demands of the party’s two sub-teams between Gowda and state BJP chief K.S. Eshwarappa on one side and former chief minister B. S. Yeddyurappa on the other.

Gowda became the Chief Minister of Karnataka in 2011 after rival Yeddyurappa resigned amid corruption charges.