Congress, JD(S) Agree to Floor Test Tomorrow, Seek Security for MLAs

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election campaign rally ahead of the Karnataka state assembly elections in Bengaluru, India, May 8, 2018.

In either case, Modi and Shah will have time to find a man of their choice to replace Yeddyurappa while also finding a way to deal with any possible rebellion that the Lingayat leader may try to trigger, as he did when he was forced to quit as chief minister in the aftermath of the corruption allegations made against him during his first chief ministerial stint.

Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka this morning after a post-midnight hearing in the Supreme Court which declined to interfere in the governors decision to administer the oath of office to the BJP leader.

The Congress hopes this will put sufficient pressure on the judiciary that two different laws can not possibly be applied to identical situations. “Modi government wants to demolish democracy by targeting the Opposition parties”.

Another Congress leader, Jaiveer Shregill took to Twitter saying, “India is not witnessing “swearing-in” ceremony of below majority #Yeddyurappa #BJP Govt but “swallowing-in” of democratic/legal principles by Hon’ble Governor who chose to act like soldier of #BJP rather than soldier of the Constitution”.

#11:05 AM: No democracy left in India: BS Yeddyurappa has taken the oath but it’s hard to prove majority.

“It is submitted that the power of the Governor under Article 333 can not be exercised on the aid and advice of Respondent No 3 who is yet to undertake the floor test”. However, Congress sources conceded that two of the party’s legislators may have already defected.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi remains in silence till the Karnataka Election results were announced.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, who is BJP in-charge of Karnataka, said the comparison was wrong and went on to accuse the Congress of “forgery” in Manipur.

Rumors were also rife that the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has denied permission to a chartered flight from Benguluru airport which was supposed to fly out the MLAs to Kochi. JD (S) who won only 37 seats and lost their deposits on several others.

In a turn of events, the JD (S) and Congress forge a post-poll alliance and got the support of one Independent MLA, taking their collective number to 117. “It looked like they (Congress) had committed forgery”, Javadekar told the media.

“The people have given maximum seats to the BJP”.

While BJP and Congress prepared for round 2 of the legal challenge, non-BJP parties mounted a coordinated political protest in states where they were not in power despite being the single-largest party in the assembly.

In the interesting poll battle, what helped BJP inch closer to the magical figure was the strategy of party President Amit Shah and the effective booth-level management. They said these legislators were upset at the Congress supporting H D Kumaraswamy, a Vokkaliga. Congress fell to 78 seats from 122 in the previous election.

Speaking on the issue, senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the party has full faith in the Supreme Court that it will not repeat the Karnataka Governor’s mistake. The strength of the Karnataka Assembly is 224, of which elections were held for 222 seats and the nomination of one Anglo-Indian member would take the number to 225.