Before floor test, Yeddyurappa resigns as Karnataka CM
New Delhi, May 19: With BJP failing to get the requisite numbers to show majority ahead of the floor test in Karnataka assembly, BS Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the chief minister of the state on May 17, resigned from his post on Saturday evening.
After delivering his speech in Vidhan Soudha, Yeddyurappa departed for Raj Bhawan where he will hand over his resignation to Governor Vajubhai Rahubhai Vala.
Before resigning, Yeddyurappa addressed the assembly wherein he said it was the BJP who had the numbers. “People have blessed us with 104 seats. The mandate wasn’t for Congress or JD(S). I have traveled throughout the state for the last two years and have seen the pain on the faces of people. I can’t forget the love and affection I received from people,” said the 75-year-old.
“Farmers in my state have undergone great agony over last five years. The welfare of farmers has always been my top priority. I have pledged to work for the welfare of farmers till my last breath. I promise that I will fight for the rights and welfare of my farmers and the weak till my last breath. My whole life has been a constant fight. I will continue to fight for what is right,” he added.
The BJP leader also targeted the Congress-JDS post-poll alliance and termed it as “unholy”. “Those who were swearing on the names of each other’s fathers and calling each other names before polls, have now come together to form this unholy alliance,” he said.
“If only people would have given us 113 seats instead of 104, we would have made this state a paradise,” he said. He also assured that BJP will win 28 out of 28 seats in Lok Sabha in the 2019 general assembly elections.
“I won’t relent. I will continue to fight. I hereby resign as CM. I thank people of Karnataka,” said Yeddyurappa as he resigned from the post of Karnataka chief minister.
His resignation will pave the way for the formation of a government led by JDS state chief H D Kumaraswamy, who has the backing of the Congress.
This development came after Congress released a number of audio clips wherein it alleged horse trading by BJP leaders, including Yeddyurappa. The BJP, however, rejected the charge, calling the tape the job of “mimicry artistes” and the “dirty tricks department” of the Congress.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court rejected the petition filed by Congress-JDS alliance challenging the appointment of BJP’s KG Bopaiah as pro tem Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly. On Friday, Governor Vala appointed Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker ahead of floor test in the state assembly, breaking the convention of appointing the senior-most legislator.
Contending that Bopaiah was not the senior most legislator, the alliance represented by senior Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal, maintained that Bopaiah had a “tainted past” as he as the then speaker had tried to save a previous government of Yeddyurappa, who faced corruption charges, in 2011. The top court rejected this petition. However, it ordered live telecast of the floor test, which was scheduled for 4 pm.
Earlier in the day, Yeddyurappa along with co-legislator B. Sreeramulu resigned as Lok Sabha members after taking oath as the MLAs of the newly-constituted state Legislative Assembly.
The top court had yesterday ordered a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm today, drastically slashing the 15-day window given by the Governor to Yeddyurappa to prove majority.
On Wednesday, May 16 evening, Governor Vala invited BJP’s Yeddyurappa to form the government, giving him 15 days to prove majority in the hung Assembly.
The May 12 Assembly poll had given a fractured mandate in which BJP got 104 seats, Congress 78 and the JD(S) 37 in the 224 member House. Polling in two constituencies did not take place due to various reasons. The Congress and JD(S) formed a post-poll alliance and staked claim to form the government.
