Yeddyurappa to take oath as CM on Thursday

BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa will take oath as chief minister at 9 am on Thursday with Governor Vajubhai Vala on Wednesday evening ending the suspense on government formation by sending a formal invitation to the saffron party leader.

“I invite you to form the government and be sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka. You may kindly indicate the date and time and the place for scheduling the swearing-in ceremony,” Vala stated in his letter addressed to Yeddyurappa. The Governor has also directed Yeddyurappa to seek a vote of confidence on the floor of the House within the next 15 days.

The JD(S)-Congress combine, which has also staked the claim to form the government, reacted strongly to the Governor’s decision. “Vajubhai Vala denigrates the Governor’s office, tramples upon the Constitution, abuses the law and acts as a BJP puppet. He chose to serve his masters in the BJP rather than serve the Constitution,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy lambasted Governor Vala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, accusing them of indulging in “Gujarati business” in Karnataka. “The trimurtis think that they can start their Gujarati business in Karnataka. We will not allow it. The BJP is trying to indulge in horsetrading all over again. All they want to do is loot the state like they did in 2008,” he charged.

BJP national General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao told reporters that Yeddyurappa will take oath on Thursday. This is the third time that Yeddyurappa will be taking oath as chief minister. The earlier occasions being November 2007 and May 2008.

Meanwhile, both the Congress and the JD(S) ferried their elected members to a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru fearing horsetrading.

Kumaraswamy, who is the combine’s chief ministerial candidate, even dropped a bombshell that the BJP offered his MLAs Rs 100 crore each in bribes to break ranks, a charge which was rejected by the saffron party. All 38 JD(S) elected members were confined to a private hotel in Bengaluru.

The allegation was, however, repeated by outgoing chief minister Siddaramaiah, who accused Modi of encouraging horse trading so that the BJP can grab power in the state.

Earlier in the day, JD(S) and Congress leaders met Vala and submitted a list claiming support of 117 MLAs with a plea to consider their claim for government formation. “In a post-poll alliance of JD(S) and Congress and our pre-poll alliance with BSP, we all together have 117 MLAs and the letter of their support has been given to Governor,” Kumaraswamy told reporters after the meeting.

They had stated that the Governor will have to invite the combine as there was a Supreme Court judgement that the largest alliance should be given preference over the single largest party.