Soon after Yeddyurappa was sworn in as chief minister, the Congress and JD(S) leaders came together to register their protest against Governor Vajubhai Vala’s decision.

Leaders of both the parties and MLAs staged a dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Vidhana Soudha.

Congress leaders led by former chief minister Siddaramaiah, G Parameshwara, Mallikarjuna Kharge, K C Venugopal, Ghulam Nabi Azad were the first to arrive at the protest site by around 9.45 am. Congress MLAs, who were housed in a resort on Wednesday night, were brought to the protest venue by bus.

They were shortly joined by JD(S) MLA-elects, led by party leaders H D Deve Gowda and H D Kumaraswamy. The elected representatives, who were kept together at a private hotel in the city, were herded to the Vidhana Soudha by bus.

The leaders of the two parties who have staked claim to form the government raised slogans against the BJP and Governor Vala.

Terming Vala as BJP’s “agent” for allowing Yeddyurappa to form the government, the protesters also charged that the saffron party had “murdered” democracy. Both parties have accused the Narendra Modi-led BJP of blatantly indulging in horse-trading.

The parties ended their protest by around 12.30 pm. While the Congress MLA-elects were taken back to the resort, the JD(S) MLA-elects were taken back to the hotel they were staying in. Kumaraswamy, who performed a puja at the Vidhana Soudha temple, joined his party leaders in the bus.

JD(S) and Congress workers staged protests across the state against the BJP. Protests were held in Kalaburagi, Chikkamagaluru, Hosapete, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur and Shivamogga.

Two MLAs missing

While all the JD(S) MLA were seen at the protest site, two Congress MLA elects were conspicuous in their absence. Vijayanagara MLA Anand Singh and Maski MLA Pratapgouda Patil were not to be seen at the protest venue.