BJP cautious, awaits Speaker's action to stake claim in Karnataka

Two days after the Congress-Janata Dal-Secular government fell in Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to stake claim to form the government and is treading carefully.

According to senior BJP sources, the party is not in a hurry to stake the claim to form the next government. Looking at the current political situation in the state, the BJP would take time either to stake the claim or request dissolution of the Assembly and fresh elections, sources said.

The 14-month-old Congress-JD-S government lost the trust vote by 105-99 in the House on Tuesday after three weeks of intense power struggle in the state.

Several senior BJP leaders from Karnataka met party chief Amit Shah and working president J.P. Nadda at the party headquarters, here on Thursday, to discuss the political situation in the state. They included Jagadish Shettar, Basavraj Bommai and Arvind Limbavali, sources said.

According to sources, the party leadership is waiting for Speaker K.R. Ramesh to decide on resignations of rebel MLAs to avoid any future embarrassment. 

On Wednesday, Karnataka BJP chief B.S. Yeddyurappa said he was awaiting instructions from the central party leadership on staking claim to form an alternative government.

Meanwhile, in the evening the Speaker disqualified three rebel MLAs, including independent MLA R. Shankar and Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumathalli (both Congress), from the Assembly. IANS