New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will stake claim to form government in Karnataka in a day or two, and state party chief B.S. Yeddyurappa will be the chief minister, BJP national general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Muralidhar Rao told ThePrint Thursday evening.
The Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition collapsed Tuesday after H.D. Kumaraswamy failed a floor test.
Speaking to ThePrint, Rao said: “Ultimately we have to. There is no question we will not (stake claim to form government). It is just the timing (that) we have not decided. We are in the process and within a day or two, we will.”
‘Central BJP leadership consulting everyone in the matter’
Asked why the BJP is delaying the process of government formation, Rao said there are “certain complexities in this and the central party leadership is consulting everybody on the matter”.
“And then Supreme Court got involved, the Speaker has not decided about the resignations (of the MLAs) and disqualifications. So, these are the things we need to resolve before we take a final call,” he added.
On Thursday, a group of Karnataka BJP leaders met party president Amit Shah to apprise him of the current situation in the state and seek guidance on the formation of the new government.
Also read: Why a BJP govt in Karnataka could be as unstable as the 14-month Congress-JD(S) alliance
‘BJP will provide a stable government’
On CM’s post, Rao said Yeddyurappa is the leader of the legislature party and the BJP had contested the elections in the state under his name.
“We had declared him as the CM candidate at that time. When these things are there normally, people think he will be the leader. But, when we declare the legislature party election, then only we will discuss the issue,” he said.
Rao maintained there is no one else for the CM post apart from Yeddyurappa.
“But, ultimately it’s the central parliamentary board that will take the decision for the party, MLAs will be consulted. It’s a formality and that formal process has to be conducted. There will be a meeting soon,” he said.
Yeddyurappa was scheduled to visit Delhi Wednesday to meet the BJP’s central leaders, but it was cancelled at the last minute as a decision from the high command is still pending.
Rao said the BJP would provide a stable government in the state and last its tenure.
The Congress-JD(S) government lost the trust vote 99 to 105 after four days of debate in the Assembly and over two weeks of drama following the resignation of 15 MLAs.
Also read: The big challenge Karnataka BJP will face if it forms government now