BS Yeddyurappa announced his resignation in Vidhan Soudha on Saturday (PTI photo)
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa on Saturday resigned from his post after his party, the BJP, failed to get the requisite numbers to show majority ahead of the floor test in the state assembly. After delivering his speech in Vidhan Soudha, Yeddyurappa headed to Raj Bhawan in Bengaluru to hand over his resignation to Governor Vajubhai Vala.
With his resignation, Yeddyurappa joined Jagdambika Pal as the shortest serving chief minister in the nation. Pal served as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for three days from February 21, 1988 to February 23 1988. His taking over was challenged in the Supreme Court by his predecessor, the affected party, Kalyan Singh. In a trial of strength conducted under the supervision of the apex court, Pal could not prove his majority resulting in re-induction of Singh.
Yeddyurappa on May 17 took the oath as the 29th Chief Minister of Karnataka. However, his third tenure as CM lasted for just three days as on Saturday (May 19), the 75-year-old resigned from his post. His resignation is likely to pave the way for the formation of a government led by JD(S) state chief H D Kumaraswamy, who has the backing of the Congress.
Before resigning, Yeddyurappa addressed the assembly wherein he said it was the BJP who had the numbers. “People have blessed us with 104 seats. The mandate wasn’t for Congress or JD(S).
The BJP leader also targeted the Congress-JDS post-poll alliance and termed it as “unholy”. “Those who were swearing on the names of each other’s fathers and calling each other names before polls, have now come together to form this unholy alliance,” he said.
“If only people would have given us 113 seats instead of 104, we would have made this state a paradise,” he said. He also assured that BJP will win 28 out of 28 seats in Lok Sabha in the 2019 general assembly elections.
“I won’t relent. I will continue to fight. I hereby resign as CM. I thank people of Karnataka,” said Yeddyurappa as he resigned from the post of Karnataka chief minister.
The newly formed alliance has claimed support of 117 MLAs in the 224-member House with an effective strength of 221. Polling for two seats was not held due to various reasons, while Kumaraswamy won from two places.