Bengaluru: The three-day-old BJP government in Karnataka collapsed on Saturday as Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa quit minutes before he was to face a floor test to prove his contested majority in the hung Assembly, after which the JD(S)-Congress combine led by the regional party’s chief H.D. Kumaraswamy was invited to take the reins of power.
But, he claimed, the Congress had terrorised its MLAs and locked them in a room. “You (Congress) did not trust your own MLAs and did not even allow them to speak to their families. Today I can see relief on Congress MLAs’ faces,” he said.
Three hours later, JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, 58, drove to Raj Bhavan for a meeting with the Governor. Mr Kumaraswamy, the youngest son of JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, said the JD(S)-Congress combine has been invited by the Governor to form the new government and given 15 days to prove his strength on the floor.
