Congress ties-up with JD-S to keep BJP out of power in Karnataka

The Karnataka Assembly election results have taken a new twist as the Congress on Tuesday offered support to Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) to form the government after the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, fell short of the majority.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was rushed to the state by the party leadership to quickly seal a deal for power in the state, said that the Congress had extended its support to the JD-S and both parties will meet Governor Vajubhai Vala to stake claim to form the government.

“We had a telephonic conversation with Deve Gowda ji and Kumaraswamy. They have accepted our offer. Hopefully, we will be together,” Azad said.

Earlier, Congress leader G Parameshwara said that they accepted the verdict and since they lacked numbers to form the government, they extended support to the JD-S.

“We accept the mandate of the people. We bow our heads to the verdict. We don’t have numbers to form govt. The Congress has offered to support JD(S) to form a government,” Parameshwara said.

JD-S accepts Congress’ support, Kumaraswamy seeks Governor’s Appointment

Meanwhile, JD-S leader HD Kumaraswamy wrote to the Governor, informing him of his decision to accept the Congress’s support to form the government.

In a letter to Governor Vala, Kumaraswamy, whose party was a distant third after the BJP and the Congress, sought an appointment for the evening. 

Later, a delegation of senior party leaders from the JD-S and the Congress, including Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah, Azad, DK Shivakumar and other Congress MLAs went to meet the Governor at the Raj Bhawan, to stake claim to form the government in the state.

“Congress & JDS has 117, we need 111 to form the govt. Since we were in power, and we lost, we have given our support for JDS led govt. BJP has 104, we are ahead of them,” Azad said.

BJP leaves no stones unturned to form the government

Earlier in the day, as Karnataka threw a fractured mandate, the BJP’s ambitions to form the government in the state with a simple majority was crushed. However, the saffron party, which emerged as the single largest in a hung house, was leaving no stones unturned to form the government in the state.

BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa along with other senior party leaders met the Governor and staked claim to form the government.

“We just met the Governor because we are the single largest party and that he allows us to prove majority in the Assembly,” Yeddyurappa said.

However, the Congress argued that the BJP can't form the government as it didn't have the numbers but the Congress-JD-S alliance has enough numbers to form a government, therefore, they should be invited first.

BJP single largest party but far away from the majority mark

The BJP, which once looked set to easily cross the simple majority mark of 112, fall short of getting the magical numbers. According to the latest election commission trends, the party won 87 seats and was ahead in 17 more constituencies.

The ruling Congress won 63 seats and was leading in 15 more constituencies, whereas, the JD-S secured victory in 32 seats and was ahead in 5 more constituencies. Two independent candidates had already won while 1 more was leading against his rivals.