BJP quits K’taka Govt, says JD(S) betrayed it

The inevitable has finally happened. The 20-month-old JD(S)-BJP alliance in Karnataka has come to an end with the BJP...

The inevitable has finally happened. The 20-month-old JD(S)-BJP alliance in Karnataka has come to an end with the BJP withdrawing support to the Government. While the BJP accused JD(S) of “worst political betrayal ever”, the JD(S) accused the BJP of trying to turn Karnataka into a “Hindutva laboratory.”

According to the agreement, the JD(S) was to hand over the post of Chief Minister to the BJP. But JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda refused to honour the commitment and demanded that the BJP continue to support his son as CM. The BJP parliamentary board that met on Saturday decided to withdraw from the Government and sought fresh elections.

The BJP waited till the last moment hoping for an alternative formula but to no avail. “The issue is not just about transfer of power, it is betrayal by a party headed by a former Prime Minister,” BJP vice president Yashwant Sinha said, announcing the decision to withdraw support to the H D Kumaraswamy Government.

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“We want fresh elections in Karnataka,” Sinha said after the meeting attended by central leaders L K Advani, Rajnath Singh, Jaswant Singh and Sushma Swaraj, Karnataka BJP Legislature Party leader B S Yediyurappa and state President Sadananda Gowda.

Sinha said the BJP was against forming a Government by defections and would prefer mid-term polls at the earliest. Karnataka BJP leaders in Bangalore will take out a procession to Raj Bhavan on Sunday to submit a letter withdrawing support to the JD(S).

The party hoped that the JD(S) betrayal will endear them to the electorate and help them get a decisive mandate. B S Yediyurappa, who was BJP’s CM nominee said: “We can wait for another six months and come to power on our own.”

The JD(S) has been building the momentum for the break-up for the last few weeks, accusing the partner of “humiliating” Chief Minister Kumaraswamy and coming down heavily on the party for its “failure” to end “the character assassination campaign” by some BJP leaders.

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Meanwhile, in what could be an indication of one course of action that could be pursued to keep Kumaraswamy in power, a group of seven MLAs from fringe parties and independents said they would gather support for him from all MLAs opposed to an early election.

“We will generate support of all MLAs opposed to an immediate election and we will try to prevent an immediate election,” Vatal Nagaraj from the Kannada Chaluvali (Vatal) Paksha told reporters.

A simple majority of 113 seats is needed in the 224-member Assembly for anyone to stake claim to power. At present the BJP has 78, the Congress 66, the JD(S) 57, including 10 dissidents, the JD(U) has five, the CPI (M), the Republican Party of India and Vatal Paksha have one seat each and there are 13 Independents.

The Congress Legislature Party headed by former CM Dharam Singh held a meeting on Saturday to figure out party’s strategy. The party has decided to wait for the BJP to officially withdraw support to decide on its next course of action, Dharam Singh said after the meeting. A section of senior leaders like Singh and state party President Malikarjun Kharge are in favour of Gowda while others like former JD(S) leader Siddaramaiah and the S M Krishna faction is opposed to the idea of any new truck with Gowda especially after the 2004-2006 experience.