Lok Sabha member D V Sadananda Gowda will be the new Chief Minister of Karnataka. He was elected as leader of the BJP legislature party through secret ballot in Bangaluru on Wednesday. The exact number of votes polled by the rival candidates was not immediately available. 58-year-old Gowda beat Jagadish Shettar in a straight contest after the party central leaders failed to evolve a consensus on the successor issue. After B. S 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.