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Karnataka : BJP emerges as single largest party |
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In Karnataka, though the BJP is the largest group in Assembly election, it is not in position to form the government. Out of 224 seats, the NDA has won 84, the Congress party got 65 and the others won 75. For the second time in 21 years, the State will have a hung Assembly, paving the way for the formation of a government through a “negotiated settlement.” The Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, who submitted his resignation to the Governor, T.N. Chaturvedi appeared surprised over the results. “I was not ready for such a verdict,” he said. He accepted responsibility for the decision to advance the Assembly elections in the State.
The results of the elections held on April 20 and 26 constitute a mixed bag. The people have rejected the leadership of Krishna, an advocate of information technology and high technology, but they have not chosen the contrasting persona of a pro-farmer H.D. Deve Gowda, the former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (S) supremo. The elections have given the largest number of seats to the BJP, which had vied with the Janata Dal groups in espousing the cause of the farmers hard hit by the failure of rains in the past three years.
There are two options in the formation of the govt available to the parties in question:
- a coalition between Deve Gowda’s JD (S) and the Congress.
- or, a government by one of them with outside support from the other
Experts are of the opinion that a third option is also there though the chances are very remote, if BJP is able to convince Deve Gowda. BJP leaders were also making feeble attempts to persuade Gowda to form a government with their support from outside.
Deve Gowda who met Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi has made it clear he would prefer to join hands with the Congress and prevent a BJP attempt to form government. Gowda may negotiate the position of Chief Minister from his party.
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