BJP cries foul, says will go to people's court

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday once again began playing the victim card after HD Deve Gowda pulled down the Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka. The party, which unleashed an offensive against Mr Deve Gowda and his brand of “opportunistic” politics, said it was prepared to face fresh elections.

Sources said Mr Yeddyurappa did not seek the floor test on instructions from the central leadership. Earlier in the day, BJP president Rajnath Singh said the JD(S) in Karnataka has “betrayed” the saffron party again and asserted that its decision to vote against the state government was a “blot on democracy”.

Mr Singh added that the BJP did not surrender after its government was on the verge of collapse. “The JD(S) has promised us an unconditional support. We are ready to go to people and face elections,” he said.

The BJP also put it on record that the decision to form the government, along with the JD(S), after it refused to transfer power in early October, was taken at the behest of the JD(S) and on their promise of support. “The JD(S) came to us because they feared a split in the party... It was not our initiative. It was the JD(S) who came to us to form the government. They offered us unconditional support,” Mr Singh clarified.

In these circumstances, the BJP was in no mood to agree to the list of new demands that Mr Deve Gowda had come up with. The party’s line was simple — it was ready to seek the mandate of people, and therefore, saw no reason to make any concessions to the JD(S).

It would seem that the decision not to entertain further demands from Mr Deve Gowda was taken nearly three days ago when the BJP leadership decided that it should not make any compromises. This being the second time that Mr Deve Gowda and his party have pulled the rug from under the BJP’s feet, it has reaffirmed the BJP’s image of the victim in the whole deal. With Mr Yeddyurappa resigning before the floor test, the BJP hopes to reaffirm this image of “having been betrayed by its ally” when it goes to seek fresh mandate.