BSY takes U-turn, says no need to dissolve Assembly

A day after demanding fresh elections by the dissolution of the Assembly, Karnataka’s Leader of the Opposition BS Yeddyurappa took a u-turn on Wednesday and said the BJP would wait for the Congress-JD(S) coalition to collapse on its own.

On Tuesday, Yeddyurappa had said the Assembly should be dissolved and fresh polls be held, raising eyebrows even within the BJP. Yeddyurappa had pointed out that the BJP had emerged on top in 177 Assembly segments in the 25 Lok Sabha seats it won in the state, thereby hinting that an election now would favour the saffron party.

He went reverse on Wednesday. “Our mindset is that we don’t want to go for fresh elections. It’s certain that the coalition government will fall today or tomorrow. We are 105 MLAs and willing to wait. There’s no need to talk about dissolving the Assembly. Everyone has opined that we needn’t go for fresh polls,” Yeddyurappa told reporters.

The former chief minister said the Congress-JD(S) coalition should “go home” if its leaders cannot provide good governance. “If they want to stay, let them give good governance. Else, let them resign and go home. People will not forgive them for creating an atmosphere of confusion and loot,” he said.

Yeddyurappa’s call for dissolution of the Assembly had come as a surprise for many in the saffron party as he was not in favour of it till recently. Apparently, Yeddyurappa is eager to topple the coalition government by luring disgruntled legislators. The 76-year old fears that he may lose the opportunity to emerge as the chief ministerial candidate even if the party wins the mid-term polls, the party sources pointed out.

The party, according to sources, has bright chances of victory if the midterm elections are held. But the credit for it will entirely go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and not Yeddyurappa. In such an event, the central leadership and Sangh Parivar would prefer a second-rung leader as the chief minister. If that happens, Yeddyurappa will have to contend with being Margdarshak Mandal member.

Many BJP MLAs who come with a Sangh background are said to be mounting pressure on facing midterm polls than forming a new government by poaching rival party MLAs.