Despite emerging as the single largest party in the crucial Karnataka assembly elections, it seems the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is going to lose a battle it won in the first place.
As Karnataka appeared headed for a hung assembly with the BJP emerging as the single largest party but falling short of a majority, the Congress sprang in a surprise, announcing that it will back the JD(S). Seeking to throw a spanner in the BJP's works as the party appeared tantalisingly close to the magic figure of 112, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced Congress's support to the JD(S).
Karnataka Election Results 2018: All you need to know about the twist in BJP's success tale
# The Bharatiya Janata Party that initially crossed the magic mark in the initial trends, dropped below the figure later in the day, that prompted Congress to seek JD (S) support.
# JD (S) has accepted the offer made by Congress and both the parties will meet the Governor soon.
# The Congress is ahead on 78 seats, BJP on 104 and JD (S) on 38, Others hold 2 seats, according to the latest tally.
# The Congress is working out the formula for formation of government with JD (S) which will let both rise above the magic mark to stake claim.
# The BJP, which is ahead on 104 seats as of now, initially looked set to sail through and win a simple majority in the 224-member Assembly. But, as the day progressed and more trends and results started pouring in, an outright victory seemed improbable.
# However, even as the BJP was set to emerge as the single largest party and its workers began celebrating the victory on the streets of Bengaluru and New Delhi, came the sudden twist in the tale with the Congress's announcement.
# Barely hours before the shock, BJP leaders in the national capital were hailing the poll results as an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development agenda and claiming that people had rejected the divisive, toxic and negative politics of the Congress. The role of Governor Vajubhai Bala, a former BJP veteran, would be critical.
# According to the usual practice, the governor calls the leader of the single largest party or pre-poll alliance to form the government, and in the event of a hung Assembly, asks him to prove the majority on the floor of the House.
# Since the Congress and JD(S) did not have a pre-poll alliance, it seems unlikely that he would invite the leader of the JD(S) legislature group to form the government.
# The sudden development nonetheless poured cold water on the BJP's plans to form its government in the large southern state, which its president Amit Shah called the "gateway to south", for a second time.
# BJP's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa, his close aide and MP Shobha Karndlaje had said earlier, was to fly to New Delhi to finalise the date for his swearing-in after consulting the party's national leadership. It is unclear now whether he would proceed to New Delhi given the state of flux in the state's politics.
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