BJP in no hurry to form government in Karnataka

Bengaluru, May 27 (IANS) An upbeat Bharartiya Janata Party (BJP) was in no hurry to form government in Karnataka by poaching legislators of the Congress or the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), a party official said here on Monday.

"We are not in hurry to form our government or bring down the fledgling JD-S-Congress coalition government in the state. We are in a wait and watch mode," BJP's state unit spokesman G. Madhusudhan told IANS.

Denying reports that party's state unit chief B.S. Yeddyurappa claimed having numbers or legislators to topple the year-old coalition government and form a BJP government in the state again, the official said: "If a few disgruntled Congress or JD-S legislators want to join our party by resigning from their party and face by-elections on our party ticket, they are welcome."

After winning 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the BJP has urged the ruling combine to resign and face mid-term Assembly elections to end the political instability and anarchy.

"If the ruling allies have self-respect and integrity, their legislators should have resigned, owning moral responsibility for winning only one Lok Sabha seat each in the state and losing 26 seats to our party and an Independent," Madhusudhan said.

A split verdict in the May 2018 Assembly elections threw up a hung House, with the BJP winning 104, the Congress 80, including the Speaker, and the JD-S 37 seats in the 224-member House.

To prevent the BJP from returning to power, the JD-S and the Congress formed a post-poll alliance as the saffron party's three-day government collapsed for want of a simple majority on May 19, 2018.

Though the mandate was against the ruling allies, they formed a post-poll alliance after contesting against each other in every parliamentary and Assembly seat since 1994-95, the BJP leader said.

"By fielding joint candidates in all the 28 seats, 21 by the Congress and 7 by the JD-S, they could retain only Bangalore Rural and Hassan seats. They lost all the nine seats they had won in the 2014 general elections," recalled Madhusudhan.

Admitting that the BJP was open to a mid-term Assembly elections to end the political uncertainty, the party official said the onus was on the allies to resign or collapse on its own due to imminent revolt and resignations by a few of its disgruntled legislator.

"We have not thought about it (mid-term Assembly elections), but are ready to face it and secure majority to form the next government," asserted Madhusudhan.

The BJP formed its first government in the state in May 2008 under Yeddyurappa's leadership and lost the 2013 and 2018 elections to the Congress and the JD-S subsequently.

"Our party's high command has directed state leaders not to precipitate crisis till the NDA government is formed on May 30 and Narendra Modi takes oath as the Prime Minister again along with some ministers from our party and allies," Madhsudhan said.

In a related development, former Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tweeted: "Yeddyurappa (@BSYBJP) claims to form the government in spite of not having the number (s). This is a not a new drama, but is continuously misleading the public. Prime Minister Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) bowed to the Constitution (in the central hall of Parliament on May 25) but in which article has the Constitution given (him) the right for the BJP (@BJPIndia) to destabilise our government."