Independents never had it so good. The Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka has taken its tally to 116 with one more Independent MLA joining them. Yet, the party is not taking any chances. Worried about possible horse-trading, the party has packed off all MLAS to an unknown destination and they will be directly presented moments before the swearing-in ceremony.
Interestingly, all the six have been assured of ministerial berths and will be sworn on Friday along with the rest of the BJP MLAs.
The strength of the BJP in Karnataka is 116, three more than the required strength in the 224-member Legislative Assembly.
Varthur Prakash, an Independent who stayed away from joining the party, followed suit late on Tuesday night and now will be part of the BJP government which will take oath on Friday. With this, the BJP has managed to rope in all the six Independents.
The BJP had won 110 out of the 224 seats, thus falling three short of a majority. After the results were declared on Sunday, the BJP immediately held talks with six Independents and managed to rope in three candidates. Two others followed suit a day later.
The Independents who are now in the BJP government are: G Shekhar, S Tangadagi, D Sudhakar, Venkatramanappa, P Narendra Swamy and Varthur Prakash.