B.S. Yediyurappa was on Friday sworn in as BJP chief minister of Karnataka for the fourth time after his party’s central leadership gave him the go-ahead in the morning to stake claim to form the government.

Yediyurappa — he has changed the spelling of his name from “Yeddyurappa” — was alone in taking the oath of office from governor Vajubhai Vala at 6.31pm. The 76-year-old will be seeking a confidence vote on Monday before appointing his council of ministers.

On Tuesday, the previous Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition government had lost a trust vote 99 to 105 after 17 resignations had depleted its numbers.

Speaker Ramesh Kumar on Thursday disqualified three of the Congress rebels under the anti-defection law, reducing the House’s strength from 225 (including a nominated Anglo-Indian member) to 222.

Technically, this leaves the BJP seven short of the majority mark of 112. But the 14 pending resignations by Congress-JDS members — and their parties’ pending disqualification requests against them — could favour Yediyurappa.

Whether the Speaker accepts the resignations or disqualifies the members, the House strength will fall to 208, with the BJP having the edge. But if some of the rebels change their minds and withdraw their resignations, the equations could change.

Currently, the BJP commands 106 votes, including that of the lone Independent who this month quit the Congress-JDS ministry and withdrew support to the coalition.

The alliance’s 99 votes can rise to 102 if two ailing Congress members recover and the nominated member votes for the combine. It therefore needs five rebels to have a rethink.

The BJP decision to stake claim to form the government came after two days of suspense whether the central leadership would allow the move.

Senior state BJP leaders Basavaraj Bommai, J.C. Madhuswamy and Jagadish Shettar were in Delhi to try and convince party president Amit Shah that the rebels would not withdraw their resignations.

Senior Congress politician V.S. Ugrappa claimed on Friday that Yediyurappa lacked the numbers. “I want to know how they plan to give stability. Unless they continue to lure some more of our MLAs, they will not have the numbers,” he said.

The BJP, which has claimed all along it had nothing to do with the resignations by Congress-JDS lawmakers, has begun openly wooing them.

Lok Sabha member and Yediyurappa loyalist Shobha Karandlaje told reporters the rebels were welcome to join the BJP. “If they come to us, we will make sure they get elected again,” she said.

Yediyurappa arrived for the Raj Bhavan swearing-in dressed in white, his trademark green shawl placed over his shoulder, to underline his claim to being a “raitha bandhu” (farmers’ friend).

None from the Congress or the JDS was present although Yediyurappa said he had sent invitations to ousted chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Congress leader P.C. Siddaramaiah. Congress rebel Roshan Baig was the only rebel to attend the event.

The Congress hit out at Yediyurappa, calling him a “corruption icon” and a “jailbird”.

“Corruption icon and former jailbird Shri @BSYBJP has used excellent horse-trading skills to subvert democracy and come to power. (The) people of Karnataka remember his disastrous tenure as CM between 2008-2011, which ended with BSY in jail,” the state Congress tweeted.

Yediyurappa had become chief minister for the first time in November 2007 but his rule lasted only seven days because he failed to prove his majority.

He led the BJP to power in the state in May 2008 but had to resign in August 2011 after being accused in land scams and spent 25 days in jail custody.

He again formed the government last May after the BJP emerged as the single largest party in a hung Assembly but had to quit after six days as the Congress and

the JDS stitched up their alliance.

Karandlaje claimed Yediyurappa enjoyed the full faith of the national leadership. “He met the governor with clearance from the national leadership. They understand each other,” she said.

Yediyurappa’s first task as chief minister will be to pass a money bill before the July 31 deadline. He had earlier refused to cooperate when Kumaraswamy sought the BJP’s help to pass the bill just before the trust vote on Tuesday.