Bharatiya Janata Party's BS Yeddyurappa chose to step down as the Chief Minister today instead of facing a confidence vote on the floor of Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He ended his 53-hour long chief ministerial stint by submitting his resignation to Governor Vajubhai Vala on Saturday evening after failing to muster the numbers required to form a government in the state.
Following this, HD Kumaraswamy of Janata Dal (Secular) met the Governor to stake claim to form the next government in Karnataka. Under a post-poll alliance, Congress, the second largest party in the state with 78 seats, has extended external support to JD(S). On the day of election results, Sonia Gandhi had called JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda to offer the Chief Minister's office to his party, with Kumaraswamy being the obvious choice for the position. Siddaramaiah, the legislative party leader of Congress, has already made it clear that he is fine with Kumaraswamy becoming the next CM.
The swearing in ceremony will be held on Monday between 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, Kumaraswamy told reporters outside Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru. He also said that Congress and JD(S) MLAs would convene tonight to discuss the agenda of the alliance and to find out ways to run a stable government.
The oath taking ceremony on Monday will also see senior Opposition leaders convene on personal invitation from Kumaraswamy. "I have personally invited Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati, Chandrababu Naidu and Chandrashekhar Rao. I will personally invite former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Sunday," Kumaraswamy told reporters outside Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru.
After taking oath, Kumaraswamy will have to prove his strength on the floor of Karnataka legislative assembly. This should not be a problem, with the Congress-JD(S) combine having 115 seats between them. The alliance also has the support of two independent MLAs. Everything will be fine in a few days, Kumaraswamy said while talking to media personnel.
While the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the Karnataka elections 2018 after winning 104 seats, it failed to cross the halfway mark of 111. Despite this, it was invited by the Karnataka Governor to form a government in state. This was challenged in the Supreme Court, but the apex court refused to stay Yeddyurappa's swearing in.
Instead, Yeddyurappa was directed by the Supreme Court to prove his strength on the floor of Karnataka legislative assembly within 48 hours instead of 15 days as stipulated by the Karnataka Governor. Today, BJP's claims that it has enough MLAs to assume power in the state came undone during the Karnataka floor test, and Yeddyurappa chose to quit instead of fighting a lost battle.