Yeddyurappa to be CM: Congress lashes out, approaches Supreme Court

New Delhi:  The Congress on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's invitation to BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa to form the government in the state. The Congress filed the petition in the apex court registry almost around midnight.

Since swearing in now announced for 9 am on 17/5/18, in a 9 pm invite by governor today to BSY to form Govt, urgency to seek listing in sc tonite is self validating. If sc registry accepts petrs request on basis of petn settled by me and filed tonite, I wl appear and argue tonite

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) May 16, 2018

Earlier, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused the Governor of acting like a 'BJP puppet' and allowing the saffron party to 'manufacture' a majority in 15 days. 

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah (BJP chief) have sanctioned encounter of the Constitution in the hands of the Governor of Karnataka today. We will use all legal and constitutional rights available to us. We will go to the court of the people," Surjewala said, addressing the press in Delhi.

"The actions of the Governor of Karnataka who acts like a stooge of the BJP are immoral, illegal and unconstitutional. The letter of the Governor clearly establishes that he believes that the BJP and BS Yeddyurappa do not have the requisite majority numbers. We ask Shri Amit Shah and Shri Narendra Modi if two parties cannot come together in a post-poll alliance, how did you form the government in Goa, Meghalaya and Manipur," he added.

Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah have sanctioned encounter of the Constitution in the hands of the Governor of Karnataka today. : @rssurjewala — Congress Live (@INCIndiaLive) May 16, 2018

The actions of the Governor of Karnataka who acts like a stooge of the BJP are immoral, illegal and unconstitutional. : @rssurjewala — Congress Live (@INCIndiaLive) May 16, 2018

We will use all legal & constitutional rights available to us. Hum janta ki adaalat mein jaayenge: Randeep Surjewala, Congress in Delhi on #Karnataka Governor inviting BJP to form govt pic.twitter.com/VbUavA6oxr — ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2018

Karnataka Governor on Wednesday invited BJP legislature party leader BS Yeddyurappa to form the government in Karnataka. "I invite you (Yeddyurappa) to form the government and be sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka," a Raj Bhavan communique said. The Governor has asked the 75-year-old BJP leader to seek a vote of confidence within 15 days of assuming office as the CM.

Toiling hard to control the levers of power in Karnataka, Yeddyurappa and HD Kumaraswamy, the leader of the newly formed JD(S)-Congress alliance had earlier met Vala and staked claim to form the government.

With 104 MLAs in the 224-member Assembly (elections took place for 222 seats), the BJP is the single largest party, while the JD(S)-Congress coalition, formed after the election results were declared, has 116 legislators. It has also claimed support of an independent MLA.

With there being precedents of both, Governors inviting either the leader of the single largest party or that of a post-poll coalition to form the government, Vala, a former RSS-BJP veteran from Gujarat, opted for the former.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Kumaraswamy claimed the BJP had offered his MLAs Rs 100 crore and ministerial berths to break ranks and back the saffron party. The allegations were promptly dismissed by the BJP, with Union minister Prakash Javadekar dubbing them as "imaginary".

(With PTI inputs)