The Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to form the government in Karnataka with a seat strength of 115 seats, two more than the required number.
Coverage: Battleground Karnataka
B S Yeddyurappa, the next chief minister of the state along with senior BJP leaders met Governor Rameshwar Thakur at Raj Bhavan at 2100 hours on Monday and staked their claim to form the government.
The BJP had initially reached Raj Bhavan with the support of four independent legislators but at the last minute they managed to get a letter of support from the fifth legislator, thus taking their toll up to 115.
The BJP now has the support of Narendra Swamy, G Shekhar, S Tangadgi, Venkatramaiah and Sudhakar. The minimum required strength to form the government in the 224-member Karnataka legislative assembly is 113.
Following the meeting with the Governor, which lasted nearly 30 minutes, Yeddyurappa told media persons that BJP had given letters of support from all lawmakers, including the independent candidates.
We have requested the Governor to send a recommendation to the Central Government to revoke President's rule in Karnataka in order to pave the way for the formation of the BJP government, he said.
The Governor has assured us that he would send the recommendation on Tuesday morning, following which a formal invitation would be given to the BJP to come forward and form the government, he added.
The BJP delegation, which met the Governor, comprised senior leaders Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar and a host of other legislators from Karnataka.
