Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
There is many a slip between the cup and the lip.
This old proverb sums up the counting day for Bharatiya Janata Party and its chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa in Karnataka. With most of the exit polls showing the saffron party in pole position, the confidence of BS Yeddyurappa and his troops ran high.
This was further boosted by the morning trend as the counting began and the BJP took lead over the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular). By 11:30 am, the BJP leaders, both in Bengaluru and New Delhi, had started celebrating as the lead indicated the party had crossed the magic figure of 112.
Even as reports surfaced that Congress is in talks with JD(S) to form a coalition government, BJP seemed unperturbed and maintained that they won’t need an alliance to form the government.
However, all this began to change by 2 pm as the BJP’s lead began to slip. Congress announced that it will extend support to the JD(S) to counter BJP, a move that proved to be the game-changer for the day. As the BJP began to lose ground, the opposition and the independents came together and announced support for HD Kumaraswamy, the JD(S) candidate for chief minister.
In a matter of few hours, the BJP went from being the winning party to a single largest party. The decision now rests with the governor. Whether he invites the JD(S)-Congress alliance who has the numbers to form the government, or give an opportunity to the BJP because they are the single largest party, remains to be seen.
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