Bangalore, May 26
BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa, who led BJP to a landmark victory in Karnataka assembly polls, tonight met Governor Rameshwar Thakur and staked claim to form government armed with the support of five Independents who helped him cross the magic figure of 113 for a simple majority in 224-strong assembly. Yeddyurappa, 66, met the Governor this evening and handed over a letter staking claim to form the government along with letters of support from five Independents backing his government.
The Independents who helped BJP cobble the majority House are Shivaraj Thangadi, the BJP rebel who won from Kanakagiri, JD(S) rebel emerging victorious from Hosadurga, Goolihatti Shekhar, and three Congress rebels Narendra Swamy (Malavalli), Venkataramanappa (Pavagada) and D. Sudhakar (Hiriyur).
BJP general secretaries, Arun Jaitley, H.N. Anantkumar and state unit president D.V. Sadananda Gowda were part of the party delegation that met the Governor.
After meeting Thakur, Gowda told reporters at Raj Bhavan that five out of six Independents have come forward to support the government.
Varthur Prakash, a Congress rebel and one of the six Independents who triumphed this time, however, chose not to support the BJP.
With this, the stage is set for BJP to form a government on its own for the first time in the South. The Governor told the BJP delegation that he would initiate appropriate measures tomorrow.
Jaitley said his party had submitted a letter to the Governor individual letters by five Independents who have pledged their “unconditional” support to the BJP government during which the MLAs were also present. He said the delegation requested Thakur to furnish information to the union government on Yeddyurappa enjoying a majority support of 115 MLAs and take steps to revoke President’s rule to set in motion the constitutional process of government-formation.
Former minister R. Ashok said the delegation had pleaded with the Governor to fix the swearing-in on May 28. Earlier in the day, Yeddyurappa was elected BJP legislature party leader paving the way for him to stake claim to form the government.
— PTI
