* JD(S) stalwart H D Kumaraswamy accused the BJP of horse-trading and said the party had offered JD(S) legislators Rs 100 crore and cabinet rank to get them to switch sides.
“JD(S) MLAs are being offered Rs 100 crore each. Where is this black money coming from? They are supposedly the servers of poor people and they are offering money today. Where are the income tax officials?” Kumaraswamy said at a press conference.
* Union minister Prakash Javadekar rejected Kumaraswamy’s charge that BJP was offering Rs 100 crore to lure its Karnataka MLAs.
“Rs 100 crore figure is not only imaginary but it is what Congress-JDS do politics through. We are going by rules, we have submitted our claim to the Governor, are confident of forming the government,” he said.
* “If Congress-JD(S) are not invited by the Governor then the MLAs will sit on a ‘dharna’ outside Raj Bhawan from tomorrow. MPs may also join them,” said senior Congress Ghulam Nabi Azad today.
* All three principal players — the BJP, Congress and JD(S) convened legislative party meetings today. Newly elected Karnataka BJP legislators formally elected B S Yeddyurappa as the legislative party leader.
* JD(S) MLAs chose state unit chief H D Kumaraswamy as legislative party leader. However, ANI reported that two legislators, namely Raja Venkatappa Nayaka and Venkata Rao Nadagouda, were missing from the party meeting.
* Yeddyurappa, who is the saffron party’s nominee for chief minister, met governor Vajubhai Vala today and asked him to allow the BJP to form the next government in Karnataka. Speaking to mediapersons outside the Raj Bhavan, a confident Yeddyurappa claimed that he will take oath as chief minister tomorrow.
* Prior to an engagement with the governor, HD Kumaraswamy asserted that the JD(S)-Congress alliance was final and the party would form the government in the state with unconditional support from the Congress.
“We have already decided to go with Congress. That’s the reason we called JD(S) Legislature Party meeting. There is no question of taking any other decision,” said Kumaraswamy to reporters today.
* Congress leader Siddaramaiah, who resigned as chief minister yesterday, denied reports that some legislators of his party had gone missing.
“All the Congress MLAs are intact. Nobody is missing. We are confident of forming the government,” he said before heading to the Congress party meeting at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office.
He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of encouraging horse-trading so the BJP returned to power.
* Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar alleged that the BJP was attempting to “poach” its MLAs and a plan to safeguard them was afoot, details of which would be revealed in due course of time.
“They (BJP) are poaching our MLAs, we know that. Everyday there is a lot of pressure. But it not so easy because two parties have the necessary number. People are watching this,” he said.
* Leveling a similar charge, JD(S) leader Saravana said several party lawmakers had been approached by the BJP, which had yesterday asked the governor for a chance to prove its majority.
“I don’t know what they (BJP) are offering but they are trying to call our people, but they are not responding. We are all together, no one can touch our party. Our party MLAs are loyal to the party,” Saravana told ANI.
* With the Karnataka assembly polls throwing up a hung verdict, the BJP with 104 seats has fallen short of the half-way mark of 112.
* The Congress-JD(S) combine moved quickly even as the counting of votes was underway yesterday and requested the governor to allow formation of a JD(S)-led government. The two parties together have a clear majority in the 224-member Assembly.
With no time to lose, the BJP, too, staked claim to form the government while accusing the Congress of trying to grab power using unfair means.
* All eyes are now on Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala, former RSS man from Gujarat known to have a good rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to the usual practice, the governor of a state calls the leader of the single-largest party or pre-poll alliance to form the government, and in the event of a hung assembly, asks him to prove the majority on the floor of the House.
Since the Congress and JD(S) did not have a pre-poll alliance, it is up to the governor to take a call on whether to invite them to form a government or not.
