By IANS
Bangalore : Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa Monday quit office after mercurial partner Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) withdrew support to his government, exactly a week after he took over as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) first chief minister in the country’s south.
In a dramatic turnaround, the JD-S had announced that it would vote against the BJP when the assembly takes up a confidence vote, setting the stage for the fall of the second government in the state in less than two months.
Yeddyurappa launched a bitter attack on the JD-S for going back on its word after moving the one-line motion seeking the confidence of the house.
“We will go to the people and thoroughly expose the JD-S’ betrayal,” he said, announcing that he was demitting office.
The assembly proceedings began as scheduled at around 11 a.m. Monday with the JD-S legislators being issued a whip by their leader and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to vote against the motion.
Hoping against hope, an angry Yeddyurappa had told reporters at the state secretariat earlier in the day that there was no question of his resignation — though his party has only 79 members in the 225-member assembly.
But there was little option for his government. The JD-S, which had extended unconditional support to the Yeddyurappa-led ministry only a week ago, changed its stand after the BJP refused to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on its terms for its vital legislative support.
Yeddyurappa and his JD-S predecessor Kumaraswamy met Sunday in a last minute bid to resolve differences, but the effort failed as the BJP rejected the coalition partner’s demand for the cash-rich mining and urban development ministries, among other things.
JD-S has 51 members in the house and the Congress 65, with smaller parties and independents making up the rest.
Yeddyurappa was sworn in as chief minister Nov 12. Governor Rameshwar Thakur directed him to prove his majority before Nov 20.
President’s rule was imposed in Karnataka in October after the JD-S refused to honour a pact with the BJP and give up the chief minister’s post after 20 months of holding office.
But realising that the Congress was trying to woo its legislators, the JD-S did a rethink and agreed to back the BJP, which has never formed a government in the south until now. But round two of the JD-S/BJP dalliance lasted just a week.