The BJP-JD(S) combine is all set to form the government after both parties handed over letters to the governor. The letters include signatures of all MLAs who support the formation of the government.
While all 79 MLAs from the BJP have extended supported, the JD(S) has 42 MLAs in its support. It is now clear that if both parties are invited to form the government, it will be a cake-walk for them.
Both parties together will now have 121 MLAs in the House, which is way past the required mark of 113 needed to form the government in the 226-member Karnataka Assembly.
In the letter, both parties urged the governor to invite them to form the government. The move by both parties was done in a hurried manner as both feared that the Congress, along with M P Prakash, may try and scuttle their plans to form the government.
It is now clear that M P Prakash, who had been claiming all along that he has the support of 30 JD(S) MLAs, is false. With 42 in the Kumaraswamy faction supporting the BJP, it would mean that Prakash enjoys the support of just 14 rebel JD(S) MLAs.
The Kumaraswamy faction still feels that Prakash could set aside his differences and join them. Prakash said he had been humiliated and an alliance with the BJP could prove fatal to the interests of the party. Meanwhile, moments after the BJP-JD(S) leaders met the governor, M P Prakash walked into Raj Bhavan with a letter.
In this letter, Prakash said, "It will not be correct to permit the formation of the JD(S)-BJP government as both parties cannot provide stability. It is shocking that within 20 days of refusing to hand over power to the BJP, the JD(S) has done a U-turn and decided to form the government with the same party, they had ditched. In politics there is a need for ethics. I request the governor to form an opinion on a legal basis and take a decision on this issue."
Prakash also said H D Deve Gowda himself had written to the governor earlier this month requesting him to dissolve the Assembly.