Bengaluru: Governor Vajubhai Vala on Wednesday invited BJP legislature party leader B S Yeddyurappa to form the government in Karnataka, capping a day of intense jockeying for power and allegations by the Congress of bribery and horse-trading against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I invite you (Yeddyurappa) to form the government and be sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka,” a Raj Bhavan communique said.
Vala also asked 75-year-old Yeddyurappa to seek a vote of confidence within 15 days of assuming office as the chief minister.
Briefing reporters, BJP General Secretary Muralidhar Rao said Yeddyurappa will take oath here on Thursday at 9 AM.
Prime Minister Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah are unlikely to attend the swearing in ceremony, party sources said.
Toiling hard to control the levers of power in Karnataka, Yeddyurappa and H D Kumaraswamy, the leader of the newly formed JD(S)-Congress alliance had earlier met Vala and staked claim to form the government.
With 104 MLAs in the 224-member Assembly, the BJP is the single largest party, while the JD(S)-Congress coalition, formed after the election results were declared, has 116 legislators. It has also claimed support of an independent MLA.
With there being precedents of both governors inviting either the leader of the single largest party or that of a post-poll coalition to form the government, Vala, a former RSS-BJP veteran from Gujarat, opted for the former.
Earlier in the day, Kumaraswamy claimed the BJP had offered his MLAs Rs 100 crore and ministerial berths to break ranks and back the saffron party.
The allegations were promptly dismissed by the BJP, with Union minister Prakash Javadekar dubbing them as “imaginary”.
