BJP to observe 'Anti-people's Mandate Day' as Kumaraswamy takes oath in Karnataka Today

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will observe ‘Anti-people’s Mandate Day’ to protest HD Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in as the new Karnataka Chief Minister on Wednesday.

“As the Congress-JD(S) alliance hijacked the people’s mandate and formed an unholy alliance to form a coalition government on Wednesday, we are observing the occasion as the ‘anti-people’s mandate day’ across the state,” BJP state spokesperson S Shantaram said in a statement in Bengaluru.

The BJP’s protest came on a day when the coalition’s HD Kumaraswamy was set to take oath as new Karnataka Chief Minister on Wednesday at 4:30 pm.

Kumaraswamy will be the second Chief Minister of the southern state in a week after the BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa resigned from the post after his party failed to prove majority on the floor of the House.

“Thousands of our party cadres and functionaries will stage a black flag demo at cities and districts to draw the people’s attention to the opportunistic alliance of the duo to keep the BJP out of power,” Shantaram said.

In the recent Karnataka Assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in a hung house while the Congress and JD-S were number two and three, respectively.

However, in a bid to keep the BJP out of power, the Congress with 78 seats and the JD-S with 37 seats stitched a post-poll alliance. The BJP won 104 seats and fell seven short of the 111-halfway mark for a simple majority.