By IANS
Bangalore : Karnataka appeared Sunday headed for fresh elections after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formally ended its 20-month alliance with the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and sought immediate polls – a demand promptly echoed by beleaguered Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
A day after the BJP decided in New Delhi to snap its ties with the JD-S after the latter refused to hand over power in violation of a pact reached 20 months ago, a BJP delegation led by B.S. Yediyurappa, who was deputy chief minister in the coalition government, called on Governor Rameshwar Thakur.
Yediyurappa, who would have succeeded Kumaraswamy Oct 3 if the power sharing deal had been adhered to, submitted a letter notifying the withdrawal of support by BJP legislators to the 20-month-old ministry.
The letter called for early elections saying the government had been reduced to a minority.
Before meeting the governor, the BJP, which considers Karnataka its biggest stronghold in south India, held a massive rally of its supporters in the city in a show of strength.
Clearly looking dejected, Kumaraswamy told a news conference after a meeting with JD-S leaders: “We prefer mid term polls.”
The chief minister also said that he would meet the governor soon and seek permission to prove his majority. He claimed that he would not seek the support of the Congress, the second largest group in the house after the BJP, to remain in power.
Kumaraswamy has the support of 51 JD-S legislators in the 225-member assembly. The Congress has 65 members, while the BJP is the single largest group with 79 legislators.
The governor can either dissolve the house and order fresh elections or invite Kumaraswamy to prove his majority in the assembly.
Meanwhile, the JD-S suffered a major setback when legislator Mahima Patel, son of former chief minister J.H. Patel, quit as parliamentary secretary to the chief minister to protest the party’s failure to honour the power-sharing pact with the BJP.
Patel told reporters that he was considering leaving the party and hinted at forming his own group. Patel belongs to the Lingayat community, a politically powerful community in Karnataka. BJP’s Yediyurappa is also from the Lingayat community.
Patel claimed that several JD-S legislators were upset at the party’s conduct. He announced his decision after a meeting with several legislators at an undisclosed place in the city.
The Congress has not said publicly what it proposes to do. The JD-S and the Congress formed a coalition government in 2004. But the JD-S walked away from the alliance and joined hands with the BJP in February 2006 with a promise to rule Karnataka for 20 months each before the next elections.
“We are not in a hurry to disclose our cards,” a senior leader told IANS. “The Congress has considered various options. Let the JD-S make the first move, if it wants our support.”
A Congress leader acknowledged that a substantial section of legislators were against early elections.
State Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said Saturday that the state unit of the party would leave the decision to the party high command.
Congress general secretary Prithviraj Chavan is expected here Sunday night for talks with state leaders on the strategy to be followed.
Yediyurappa, addressing BJP workers after meeting the governor, accused JD-S chief and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda of “cheating” the BJP by backing out of the February 2006 deal.
He appealed to JD-S legislators upset with their party to join the BJP.