Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy has written to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala seeking an appointment with him after the party accepted the Congress’ support to form the government. The Assembly election results showed the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party was falling short of a majority.
However, the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, BS Yeddyurappa, too has secured an appointment with the governor at 5 pm.
At 4.55 pm, the BJP held leads or wins in 104 seats. The Congress was ahead or had won in 78 seats and the JD(S) in 37. A party or an alliance needs 112 seats to form the government.
Vala, who became Karnataka governor in September 2014, vacated his Rajkot-II seat in 2001, when Narendra Modi contested the Assembly elections for the first time. A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker, he was first fielded by the BJP from the constituency in the 1985 Assembly elections, The Indian Express reported. He went on to win from the seat seven times.
Vala was also the finance minister for nine years during Modi’s term as the chief minister of Gujarat. From 2005 to 2006, he also led the party unit in Karnataka. Vala is a man of principles, his family physician Batuk Parsana told The Indian Express.
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