After a warm up meeting late on Tuesday evening between HD Deve Gowda and his son Kumarswamy, both parties nearly moved forward in tandem on Wednesday, calling a meeting of their legislative parties, ensuring they spoke in one voice while attacking the BJP.
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Responding to a question on how they realised their phones were being tapped, Shobha said, “We got to know from agencies”. Mayawati, sources said, subsequently spoke to Sonia and suggested that Congress extend support to JD (S) to which she agreed.
“If this regional election had resulted in Modi losing, that could have potentially raised the risk of more populist actions”, said Aidan Yao, senior emerging Asia economist at Axa Investment Managers in Hong Kong. Of course Plan B hinged on the BJP securing less than a simple majority and as soon as the figures confirmed this the Congress leadership lost no time in putting the plan into operation.
A BJP government in Karnataka will also help Modi silence critics who said his popularity had waned after the implementation of a nationwide sales tax and a ban on high-value bank notes late in 2016. The JD (S) and Congress had met the governor at the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday evening and Vala had assured he will consult legal experts before making a decision. If Governor decides in favour of Yeddyurappa, huge uproar from JD (S) and Congress is expected since it will be considered as against to the previous precedents set in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya where the largest coalition is invited to form the government.
The three-judge Bench has demanded that the letters sent by BS Yeddyurappa to the Karnataka Governor – staking his claim to form the government – be produced before it.
A governor of an Indian state can exercise his discretion when no party manages to win the requisite number of seats on its own. “Before criticising us let Rahul Gandhi go to his mother and ask what was promised and why people rejected their party which was ruling (at the centre)”.
Congress leader DK Shivakumar said that none of the elected MLAs backed out, and the alliance continues to hold majority. In an unexpected twist, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), with a majority of seats between them, have joined hands in attempt to keep the BJP out of power.
The Left, among the biggest proponents of opposition unity, welcomed the Congress’ decision to support JD (S) and reiterated this was the need of the hour to defeat the BJP.
As per reports, BJP leaders are seeking out the Governor to grant them a week’s time to prove their majority in the house.
In a letter to Rajnath Singh, union minister of home affairs, Karandlaje has asserted, “Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Privacy are fundamental rights of any citizen as enshrined in the Constitution”. The second option, of poaching MLAs from other parties, is being actively pursued by both Congress and JD (S) too. After meeting the governor Kumaraswamy said that they have submitted a list of 117 MLAs to the governor and requested him to consider their claim to form the government.
The Congress has 78 MLAs in the new Assembly, which is yet to be formally constituted.
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The Karnataka vote shows that Modi still has pulling power with voters who want a change from their current governments.
