A delegation of leaders from the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party reached New Delhi on Thursday to meet party chief Amit Shah and Working President JP Nadda to discuss the political situation in the state.
The delegation led by senior BJP leader Jagadish Shettar includes Basavraj Bommai and Arvind Limbavali, according to ANI. They met Shah around 9.30 am but will meet him again at 3 pm, News9 reported.
This came two days after the coalition of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) failed to prove its majority in the trust vote conducted in the state Assembly. The 14-month-old ruling coalition lost the floor test after 99 MLAs voted in favour of it and 105 legislators against it. Soon after, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy met Governor Vajubhai Vala to submit his resignation. Vala accepted it and asked Kumaraswamy to continue as the caretaker chief minister for now.
State BJP President BS Yeddyurappa was expected to stake claim to form government immediately. On Wednesday, he said he was awaiting instructions from the central leadership.
“Regarding the political scenario, what is happening and everything, we want to discuss with our National President Amit Shah,” Shettar told ANI. “For that we came here.”
Limbavali added: “You know the situation of Karnataka. The new government has to come...We will take their [top BJP leadership] advice on how to go further.”
Some reports claimed that the BJP was waiting to get clarity on the disqualification of 15 rebel Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) MLAs who brought down the government. When asked about this, Limbavali said: “That is not the issue. Maybe, one of the issues. We need to take the guidance of the central party. We will take the guidance of all the senior leaders.”
Karnataka ended up with a fractured mandate after Assembly elections in May 2018. The BJP was the largest party with 105 seats, but it was eight short of the majority mark of 113. The party still went ahead to stake claim, hoping to get Janata Dal (Secular) MLAs on board before a floor test. Yeddyurappa took oath as chief minister, only to resign two days later before the trust vote could take place.
The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), which were able to cross the majority mark together, formed a post-poll alliance to form the government, with Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) as chief minister. The ruling coalition had a difficult run for 14 months. After losing the trust vote, the Congress accused the BJP of carrying out “one of the most heinous” instances of horse-trading in the country.
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