Bengaluru, October 15: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said that the resignation letter given by BSP MLA N. Mahesh to his ministerial post was forwarded to the Governor for further action.

Speaking to reporters at the party office here on Monday, the CM said that Mahesh has given his resignation as per the direction of BSP Chief Mayawati and BSP National General Secretary Satish Mishra has asked him to accept the resignation. There was no relationship between the resignation of Mahesh and the by-elections. The coalition between the JDS and BSP would continue, he said.

“Being the Chief Minister, I have not been misusing the government money. I would not use special flight. Normally, I would travel by car. I am trying my level best to save the public money. Even when I went to Mangaluru, I never used special flight. The allegations that I have been misusing public money are baseless”, he said.

“In my office, 184 persons have been working on contract basis. Another 56 persons were deputed and six persons were outsourced. This is not the decision of only my government. Same system was there in the previous governments too”, he clarified.

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Ranchi (PTI): Hemant Soren is set to take oath as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand in a grand ceremony here on Thursday, which will be attended by several top political leaders, including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Soren at 4 pm.

This will be the 49-year-old JMM leader's fourth stint as chief minister.

Soren retained the Barhait seat, defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes in the recent assembly polls. The JMM-led alliance stormed to victory, securing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, while the BJP-led NDA managed 24 seats.

Posters for the event can be seen across the city, while security has been strengthened and traffic regulations put in place.

Schools in Ranchi city are shut on Thursday in view of the swearing in of the Hemant Soren government.

Jharkhand in-charge and Congress general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir said Soren is likely to take oath alone, and expansion of the cabinet will be held after a vote of confidence in the assembly.

Other senior political leaders likely to be in attendance are NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, a JMM leader said.

CPI(ML)L general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and Bihar’s Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav are also likely to attend the oath-taking ceremony.

"It’s heartening to have such esteemed leaders join us for this important occasion," said Soren, who along with senior officials paid a visit to the Morabadi ground on Wednesday evening to take stock of the arrangements.