Karnataka crisis: Moments after the Congress-JD(S) government lost the confidence motion in the Assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called it Game Of Karma. “Game Of Karma. It’s the victory of people of Karnataka. It’s the end of an era of corrupt & unholy alliance. We promise a stable & able governance to the people of Karnataka. Together we will make Karnataka prosperous again,” the BJP said in a tweet.

After weeks of drama, the trust vote was conducted today in the House. The coalition government failed to prove the majority with just 99 MLAs on its side. Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar declared that 99 members had voted in favour of the motion and 105 against it. The fate of the coalition was almost decided on the day 16 members resigned from Congress and JD(S). Now, the BJP is the largest party with 105 MLAs in 224-member House.

In the assembly polls held in 2018, the BJP had emerged as the largest party. But the Congress, which had 79 MLAs, extended its support to JD(S) which had just 37 members. Both the parties formed the government in the state.

Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah today said that BJP had got 104 in the assembly elections and the Governor allowed it to form the government. “But they (BJP leaders) failed to prove the majority. So our alliance is not against the mandate,” he said. The Congress leader slammed the saffron party and said that the people of the state would teach it a lesson in the upcoming elections. “It is clearly evident that the BJP leaders are behind this disgusting political gameplan. People are not fools to not understand this & they will teach BJP leaders a great lesson in the coming elections. How is it right to destabilize stable govt for their selfish reasons?” he said.

Meanwhile, Kumaraswamy has reportedly sought time from Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to tender his resignation. After Kumaraswamy resigns, BJP leader Yeddyurappa could stake the claim to form the government in the state.