Shah holds consultation with party leaders on Karnataka

BJP president Amit Shah held consultation with party leaders amid indications that BS Yeddyurappa maybe its chief ministerial choice in Karnataka after the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government fell on Tuesday.

Asked about its choice for the top post in the state, a party leader said Yeddyurappa, who is seen as the spearhead behind the drive to topple the Congress-JD(S) government, is an "obvious" contender but added that the top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah, will take a call on the matter.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, who is from Karnataka, said Yeddyurappa is the BJP's natural choice for the job but the national leadership will take the final call.

The party will stake claim to form the next government, he added.

Reacting to fall of the Kumaraswamy government, senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar said, "At last truth has prevailed and Karnataka will have the popular BJP government. Power-hungry Congress & JDS tried their best to hang on to power through all undemocratic means."

Today their ugly design has been defeated and truth has triumphed, he said, adding that it is a victory of the people of Karnataka, he said.

Earlier, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said the exit of the "corrupt, illegitimate" coalition dispensation is good news for the state's people.

"The Karnataka government which lost the trust vote was an illegitimate government which came to power through the back door and has continued in office for weeks even after losing the legislative majority. The exit of the corrupt, illegitimate coalition government is good news for the people of Karnataka," Rao, also a Rajya Sabha member, said in a statement.

The confidence motion moved by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy received 99 votes in favour and 105 against it.

After losing the trust vote, Kumaraswamy, 59, went to Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation to Governor Vajubhai Vala.