Karnataka: Two MLAs' oaths felled BJP hopes

Bengaluru: Since Saturday morning, it was anxious moments for BJP leaders as they tried hard to get the support of the required number of MLAs to prove their majority in the Assembly, but their hopes collapsed following the oath-taking of Congress MLAs, Anand Singh and Prathapgowda Patil, who were allegedly in the “BJP camp” till the afternoon.

The party’s confidence had suffered a jolt on Friday itself following the Supreme Court’s direction to chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to prove his majority within 24 hours, but its leaders continued to make desperate attempts to reach Lingayat MLAs of the Congress and JD(S) from North Karnataka.

While it became clear to the BJP’s central leaders and state BJP core committee members that it didn’t have the required numbers to prove its majority by Saturday morning, party MLAs were clueless about this and hoped till the afternoon that BJP president Amit Shah’s magic would obtain the required numbers to give the BSY government the majority it needed. Many MLAs also hoped that former minister B. Sriramalu would get the required numbers.

Once the MLAs had taken oath in the Assembly, Mr Yeddyurappa returned to his chamber, where Union ministers, Prakash Javadekar, J.P. Nadda, Ananthkumar and D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Karnataka BJP in-charge Muralidhar Rao, and other leaders were waiting for him.

Having greater clarity about the MLAs on their side, they discussed the future course of action while Mr Javadekar and Mr Nadda remained in constant touch with Mr Shah.

And later, after the House adjourned for the lunch break, senior BJP leaders went into a huddle in a room adjacent to the chief minister’s chamber. They even tried reaching out to Lingayat MLAs of the Congress at the last moment, but their mobile phones were not reachable owing to the jammers installed in the House and Assembly lounge.

Finally, left with no choice, the party’s central leadership decided not to go ahead with the trust vote and persuaded Mr Yeddyurappa to put in his papers. But before he could go to the House to give his farewell speech, the chief minister’s office informed the Raj Bhavan about his impending resignation.