BSY RESIGNS, HDK TO BE CM
SWEARING-IN ON WEDNESDAY; KCR, MAMATA, MAYAWATI TO ATTEND
The three-day-old BJP government in Karnataka collapsed on Saturday as Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa quit minutes before he was to face a floor test to prove his contested majority in the hung Assembly, after which the JD(S)-Congress combine led by the regional party’s chief H.D. Kumaraswamy was invited to take the reins of power.
The JD (S) leader told the media here that he was set to take oath between noon and 1.05 pm on Monday, however, he put off the swearing-in function to Wednesday as Monday marks the death anniversary of former PM Rajiv Gandhi, and both Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi would not be able to make it to the function on that day.
Telangana state Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will attend the oath-taking ceremony. TRS party sources said Mr Kumaraswamy telephoned Mr Rao and invited him for the oathtaking ceremony. Mr Rao congratulated Mr Kumaraswamy and promised to attend the ceremony. Other top leaders of the Opposition who were invited include BSP chief Mayawati and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Capping five days of riveting political and courtroom drama, Mr Yeddyurappa announced his decision to quit on the floor of the Assembly after a brief emotional speech rather than face a vote of confidence he was widely expected to lose.
Before leaving for Raj Bhavan to hand in his resignation at the end of what was one of the shortest tenures of any government, Mr Yeddyurappa announced in the House on Saturday that he would not rest until the BJP won 28 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general election and 150 seats in the next Assembly polls, which he predicted could happen anytime.
“I am in good health and will fight to bring back a full-fledged BJP government in Karnataka. I will tour the state and we will win 150 seats in the next Assembly elections, which may happen anytime,” he declared. While he did not attempt to prove his majority on the floor of the House through a trust vote, Mr Yeddyurappa said he was sure of getting the “conscience” votes of the Opposition MLAs, and a few had even promised him to vote in favour of his government.
IF ONLY PEOPLE
would have given us 113 seats instead of 104, we would have made this state (Karnataka) a paradise
— B.S. YEDDYURAPPA DEMOCRACY WINS. Congratulations Karnataka. Congratulations DeveGowdaji, Kumaraswamyji, Congress and others. Victory of the ‘regional’ front (sic) — MAMATA BANERJEE, WB CM
While the way has now been paved for a JD(S)- Congress coalition government, a section of legislators from both parties are not sure it will survive even a year given the differences between the two parties and the BJP’s expected tactics to bring it down.
A senior JD(S) legislator believes there will be a constant threat to the new government from both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president, Amit Shah. “Arm twisting will be the order of the day. So it’s difficult to predict how long this new dispensation under our party chief, H.D. Kumaraswamy will survive,” he said, adding that although it seemed all hunky dory between the Congress and JD(S) for now, this may not last for very long.
“This time around we struggled to secure votes from the Muslims. A case in point is Hassan city where Pritam Gowda won. Although there are nearly 24,000 Muslim votes in the constituency, we received only 800. In several seats, Muslim leaders even returned our money saying they were voting for the Congress,” he admitted. A senior MLA of the Congress believes the alliance may survive only until the Lok Sabha polls next year, as differences could crop up over seat sharing in the Vokkaliga belt. “Of the eight LS seats there (excluding Bengaluru), the Congress has been winning five , Kolar, Tumkuru, Chikkballapur, Chamarajanagar and Bengaluru Rural. This leaves only two seats in this belt, Mandya and Hassan for the JD(S).
IF THE GOVERNOR of Karnataka has any shame left, he should submit his resignation as well. Union ministers enabling corrupt deals equally culpable — Sitaram Yechury, CPM general secretary DGCA AND Air Traffic Control confirm that no requests were received for chartered flights to transport INC and/or JD(S) MLAs — Jayant Sinha, aviation minister
■ 35% of winning MLAs In Karnataka have pending criminal cases
■ Anand Singh, the missing Congress MLA from Vijayanagar and suspected to have switched sides to BJP has the maximum number of pending criminal cases against him
@PChidambaram_IN
Poor Mr Yeddyurappa. When the puppeteers fail, the puppet falls and breaks.
@Chetan Bhagat
Well played Cong + JDS. It’s literally haari baazi ko jeetna, hamhe aata hai today. BJP go back and reflect. Overconfidence never served anybody.
@ShatruganSinha
Resounding embarrassment and loss of moral standing/face for our leadership. All those who misled Hon'ble PM, particularly those who declared victory in his presence, must be held responsible and shown the door