Governor has allowed BJP to prove majority, says Yeddyurappa
NEW DELHI / BANGALURU : The Governor of Karnataka Vajubhai Vala will be the point of focus as both factions – the BJP and the Congress-JD(S) coalition – stake claim to form the government.
The results of the Karnataka assembly election are out.
The BJP has emerged as the largest party with 104 seats, while the Congress has suffered a big loss, capturing only 78and JD (S).38.
BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa said that We should be forming the government as we are the single largest party,” he said.BJP is leaving no stone unturned to stake the claim to form the next government. Following his meeting with the Governor, the BJP CM candidate Yeddyurappa said they will prove the majority on the floor of the house.
The next move in Karnataka would be for the governor to satisfy himself on which of two factions command a majority in the house to form a stable government,Of course, there’s nothing to stop the governor from doing it. But I don’t think constitutional scholars or historians will look at that very kindly. Governors don’t necessarily look to the judgement of history or constitutional scholars. They also go by the feel of the situation. Says Former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash Kashyap.
By convention, the governor invites the single-largest party to form the state government. However, in recent cases of the Goa and Meghalaya state elections a coalition government with majority seats have been allowed to stake claim even without a pre-poll alliance.
HD Kumaraswamy, the chief ministerial candidate for JD(S), has also written to the governor seeking to form a government in alliance with the Congress.
There is no other option, constitutionally, apart from inviting the JD(S)-Congress coalition to form the government, said Congress’ communications chief Randeep Surjewala in a media conference. “That’s why we hope that the JD(S) and Congress coalition will welcomed by the Governor, in accordance with the law and Supreme Court’s guidelines,” he added.
Earlier, Sonia Gandhi had offered a deal to the JD(S) of creating an alliance with HD Kumaraswamy as the state chief minister. The Congress high command’s decision comes amid the grand old party losing grip as the saffron surge continues unabated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was sent to Karntaka to deal with the situation, reached out to JD(S) chief and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. “We have had a telephonic talk with both Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy. They have accepted that JDS will head the government.
JD(S) has said HD Kumaraswamy has accepted the offer to become the next chief minister of Karnataka. Kumaraswamy, who contested from two constituencies, is Deve Gowda’s son.
Following the statements made by the Congress and the JD(S) on their plan to stake claim to form the next government in Karnataka, BJP CM candidate BS Yeddyurappa canceled his visit to Delhi and senior party leaders Prakash Javadekar, JP Nadda, and Dharmendra Pradhan have also rushed to Karnataka to assess the situation on ground.
Though the exit polls had predicted a close fight, the BJP’s state leadership was fully confident that it would trump Siddaramaiah’s Congress. So much so, that Yeddyurappa even said that he would take the oath on May 17. BJP Chief Amit Shah expects the party to bag 130 seats, which would mean the BJP would comfortably cross the halfway mark of 112 seats. But now with the Congress and the JD(S) coming together, the BJP seems to be short of just a few seats.
Siddaramaiah, however, was equally confident that his party would pass the incumbency test and return to power. In fact, after the election campaign got over, he told his party workers to enjoy the weekend and not worry about the exit polls. He dismissed exit polls as “entertainment”.
kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkPrior to these results, there was consensus among analysts that Congress may win this election in the absence of any negative issues such as anti-incumbency. However, its Lingayat card backfired and the party failed to meet the anticipation of analysts. The Lingayat community felt the congress wasn’t a well wisher of the community in the true sense and only offered it a separate identity with the vested interest of preventing Yedurappa from becoming Chief Minister. This mindset on the part of the community was a key reason that the grand old party delivered the numbers it did.
Another card played by Congress in this election was toying with the Kannadiga identity. But it failed to factor in the possibility that such regional identities might only attract the regional elite, not the grassroots. In this case too it mobilised a microscopic minority but failed to reach out garner the popular vote. (With Agency Inputs ).
