Bangalore: BJP legislature party leader BS Yeddyurappa took oath as the Karnataka Chief Minister here Thursday, hours after the Supreme Court declined to stay his swearing-in ceremony. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to Yeddyurappa at 9 am at the Raj Bhavan amid tight security.
The beleaguered Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leaders, however, protested against the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa and termed the Governor’s decision unconstitutional.
“Constitutionally, we (JD-S and Congress) should have been given the chance to form the government as we together have the majority in the assembly. The Governor’s decision to invite the BJP to form the government is against the Constitution,” state unit Congress chief G Parameshwara told reporters here.
Earlier, a three-judge bench of the apex court rejected a joint writ petition, filed by the Congress and the JD-S Wednesday night, to halt the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister at a special pre-dawn hearing. The top court, however, said the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa was subject to the final outcome of the matter before it and posted the case for further hearing at 10.30 am Friday.
The bench, headed by Justice AK Sikri, also sought the letter Yeddyurappa wrote to the Governor Wednesday, informing him about his election as the BJP legislature party leader in Karnataka. Vala Wednesday night invited Yeddyurappa to form the government and prove majority in the assembly within 15 days.
This is the third time Yeddyurappa took oath as the state Chief Minister, a decade after he became the BJP’s first Chief Minister in south India in May 2008 when the party came to power for the first time in the southern state.
Soon after taking oath, an upbeat Yeddyurappa said he was confident of winning the majority and being in power for the full five-year term. Yeddyurappa also accused the Congress and JD-S of trying to steal the people’s mandate by forming an alliance.
Among the Congress leaders who protested were former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, party General Secretary KC Venugopal and senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.
JD-S supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda also joined the protest, while his son and JD-S state president HD Kumaraswamy attacked the Modi government for demolishing democracy. In a related development, the Congress and the JD-S have lodged their newly-elected legislators at a resort on the city’s outskirts, ostensibly to prevent them being poached by the BJP, which they alleged was indulging in horse trading to win over their MLAs.
Cong, RJD demand K’taka model in Goa, Manipur and Bihar
Panaji/Patna/Imphal: In a ripple effect stemming from developments in Karnataka, the Congress in Goa and Manipur and the RJD in Bihar, which is the single largest party in the respective states, today said they will approach the state Governors and stake claim for government formation. Goa Congress Legislature Party chief Chandrakant Kavlekar said the party will stake claim Friday by submitting to Governor Mridula Sinha a formal letter containing signatures of all the 16 party MLAs. The Governor has given 12 noon time for the meeting with the Congress leaders. The Congress is giving an “opportunity to Goa governor to rectify the mistake which she did last year,” Chodankar said. In Bihar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said his party will also request the Bihar Governor to dissolve the state Assembly and like in Karnataka invite the single largest party, which in the state is his party. Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly, told reporters in Patna he has sought an appointment with the Governor Satyapal Malik Friday before whom “we wish to submit that there cannot be double standards.” Former Manipur Chief Minister and Congress leader Ibobi Singh also said he will seek an appointment with the Governor for staking claim to form a government.
