Yeddyurappa stakes claim to form BJP government in Karnataka

Bengaluru: The BJP’s Chief Ministerial face, B.S. Yeddyurappa, on Wednesday staked claim to form the new government in Karnataka.

“We have staked claim to form the government as the single largest party with 104 newly elected legislators,” Yeddyurappa told reporters here after meeting Governor Vajubhai R. Vala at Raj Bhavan.

Earlier in the day, the new Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers unanimously elected Yeddyurappa as their legislative party leader.

“I have requested the Governor to allow me to take oath as the Chief Minister at the earliest and the Governor said he would take an appropriate decision soon,” Yeddyurappa said.

Of the 222 constituencies where polling was held on May 12, the BJP won in 104 seats, while the Congress won in 78 and JD-S won in 38 seats, along with its ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), throwing up a hung assembly in the state.

The BJP is still eight short of the 112-halfway mark needed for a simple majority.

In a related development, the party’s legislator from Rajajinagar in the city’s northwest suburb told reporters that the Congress was “shameless” to extend support to the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) after its leaders, including party President Rahul Gandhi and state unit chief G. Parameshwara accused the regional party of being the ‘B-team’ of the BJP.

“Shocking to see a defeated Congress falling head over heels to extend unconditional support to the JD-S after dubbing it BJP’s B-team,” Kumar told reporters outside Raj Bhavan.

On Tuesday, the Congress had extended its unconditional support to the JD-S to form a government in the state.