According to ANI, the Congress and JD(S), which have been pushing to form a coalition government in Karnataka, have warned they would stage a dharna outside Raj Bhavan if Governor Vajubhai Vala did not invite them to form the government. The BJP had met the governor earlier on Wednesday to stake claim.
Sources told the news agency on Wednesday that MPs of the two parties could join any eventual stir. The statements came even as JD(S) and Congress MLAs arrived at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday evening to submit letters of support from their respective MLAs.
If Congress-JD(S) are not invited by the Governor then the MLAs will sit on a 'dharna' outside Raj Bhawan from tomorrow. MPs may also join them: Sources #Karnataka
— ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2018
The governor reportedly denied a request from the two parties on parading their MLAs even as confusion prevails over the exact number of MLAs supporting either side.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was instrumental in finalising the alliance with the JD(S), declared the two parties had complete faith in Vala and that he would go by the Constitution and not act in favour of the BJP, of which he was a member earlier. Azad and other Congress leaders were reportedly made to wait for over two hours to meet Vala.
Criticising the perceived delay in formation of a government, the CPI(M) has accused the governor's office of being misused by the BJP for “naked horse-trading.” A CPI(M) politburo statement cited the examples of the 2017 election in Goa and also the Manipur and Meghalaya elections, in which the BJP formed post-poll alliances and was allowed to form the government, despite the Congress being the single-largest party.
Prasad slams Siddaramaiah
Union Law Minister Ravi Shanker Prasad on Wednesday came down heavily on Congress leader and outgoing Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah for criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Siddaramaiah had accused Modi of encouraging horse-trading in Karnataka.
Prasad condemned the Karnataka leader's speech as being "irresponsible, misleading, malicious and reckless and having unfounded allegations against the very popular prime minister."
Prasad said the nature of the mandate of the people of Karnataka could be eloquently interpreted by the fact that Siddaramaiah had lost one of the two seats he contested by over 60,000 votes, and scraped through in the other, even as 16 of his cabinet colleagues had lost the elections.
(With inputs from Vijaya Pushkarna, Agencies)