Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister B.S.Yeddyurappa on Saturday resigned without moving the Supreme Court mandated trust vote in the floor of state Assembly (to prove his majority) from his post barely two and a half days after he was sworn in, beating his own personal record of seven days in 2007.
“I am resigning from chief minister post and will go back to the people to seek justice,” Yeddyurappa said in the floor of the legislative assembly, almost choking on his words.
His conceding of defeat coming as a major embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the party, including its top leadership, were confident of gaining a majority.
Elections held on 12 May to 222 of the state’s 224 seats have resulted in a hung assembly with the BJP having 104 MLAs, while the Congress won 78 seats and Janata Dal (Secular) 38 (including one from the Bahujan Samaj Party, its pre poll ally). Polling in two seats will be held later.
Though the Congress and JD (S) formed a post poll alliance and communicated the same to the Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, the latter chose to invite Yeddyurappa to form the government and prove his majority within 15 days.
The Congress and JD (S) moved Supreme Court challenging the decision of the governor based on precedence set by the BJP in other states like Goa in forming the government denying the largest party the first chance to do so.
Yeddyurappa, was sworn in on Thursday while the apex court, hearing the case on Friday, gave the chief minister just one day to prove his majority.
“Manipulation does not work all the time,” Ghulab Nabi Azad, senior Congress leader said after Yeddyurappa’s resignation, referring to the alleged attempts of horse trading or trying to buy out legislators from opposition parties by the BJP.
Fearing being poached by BJP leaders, both Congress and JD (S) party leaders bungled up all its newly elected members into resorts in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
The Congress and JD (S) had alleged that multiple BJP leaders had contacted it’s members, luring them with huge sums of money and ministerial berths among other perks to jump to the saffron side.
BJP needed at least eight seats to cross the revised simple majority figure of 112.
The developments also bringing back a coalition government in Karnataka and the uncertainty that comes with it.
According to the earlier terms of agreement between Congress and JD (S), H.D.Kumaraswamy is set to be the next chief minister in the post poll alliance between the Congress and the JD(S).