Facing defeat, CM Yeddyurappa quits without trust vote, JD-S' Kumaraswamy invited to form govt

The three-day-old BJP government in Karnataka collapsed today 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.

Capping five days of riveting political and court-room drama, Yeddyurappa announced his decision to quit on the floor of the Assembly after a brief emotional speech rather than face a vote of confidence he was widely expected to lose.

"I will not face confidence vote....I am going to resign," he told the Assembly at the end of a brief emotional speech bringing the curtains down on his short-lived tenure, two days after he was sworn in.

"Till my last breath, I'll fight for the farmers. I'll give my life for people."
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar claimed that the new government would not last long as it was an "unholy nexus."
Yeddyurappa accused the Congress-JDS combine of forming an 'opportunistic' alliance and said the popular mandate had been subverted due to their 'conspiracy.'