The three-day-old BJP government in Karnataka collapsed today, minutes before the scheduled trust vote, with Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa resigning in a tame anticlimax to what promised to be on the edge of seat political thriller.
With defeat staring him in the face, Yeddyurappa announced his decision to quit on the floor of the Assembly after a brief emotion-laden speech.
Hours later, H D Kumaraswamy, the chief ministerial candidate of the newly formed JS(S)-Congress-BSP alliance, met Governor Vajubhai Vala, and said he has been invited to form the government.
"Today, the BJP government failed to show their strength in the House. On that basis governor invited me to form the next government," Kumaraswamy told journalists.
The 58-year-old leader, son of JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, said the governor gave him 15 days to prove his majority, but asserted "we don't need 15 days".
After meeting the governor, Kumaraswamy had said the swearing-in ceremony would take place tentatively between 12 and 1.50 pm at Kanteerava stadium on May 21.
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However, Kumaraswamy later in the evening said the swearing-in would be held on May 23 as May 21 happens to be the death anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and therefore it would not be appropriate to hold the ceremony on that date.
Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, in 1991.
Though Yeddyurappa kept exuding confidence about winning the trust vote, as the D-day loomed he failed to muster support of 7 additional MLAs required to ensure the longevity of his government.
"I am going to resign as chief minister... I will go to Raj Bhavan and submit my resignation.
"I will not face confidence vote... I am going to resign," he told the Assembly at the end of a brief emotional speech, and headed straight to the Raj Bhavan where he handed over his resignation to Governor Vala.
The 75-year-old Lingayat stalwart's resignation will pave the way for formation of a government led by JD(S) state chief Kumaraswamy, who has the backing of the Congress.
The newly-formed alliance has claimed support of 117 MLAs in the 224-member House with an effective strength of 221.
The political instability in the state stemmed from a split verdict the electorate gave on May 15, with the BJP emerging as the single-largest party but falling short of a majority.
The Congress, which finished second with 78 seats, moved swiftly and stitched an alliance with 37-member JD(S), and even backed its leader H D Kumaraswamy for chief ministership, plunging the state into a welter of confusion, with accusations of bribery and poaching flying thick and fast.
Amid allegations of poaching attempts by the BJP, the Congress herded its MLAs at a resort outside Bengaluru, while those of the JD(S) hunkered down in a hotel in the state capital.
They were later shifted to a hotel in Hyderabad and returned only after the Supreme Court yesterday ordered a floor test on a Congress-JD(S) petition.
As things grew murkier, the Congress released audio tape where Chief Minister Yeddyurappa was purportedly heard trying to lure an MLA with the promise of a ministerial berth if he backed the BJP government during the trust vote.
There were allegations that Congress MLA Anand Singh was "abducted" by the BJP, but he turned up at the Vidhana Sauda minutes before Yeddyurappa began his speech. He was seen shaking hands with fellow Congress members and then sat with them.
An emotional Yeddyurappa gave enough indications of his resignation during his speech when he said, "I have seen the struggle of farmers, gave land to them, wiped their tears. I wanted to waive their loans up to Rs 1 lakh... but..."
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