In a hurried decision made by Yeddyurappa, lies a tough and rocky road ahead

Bengaluru, July 26: Until late Thursday night there was no indication that the BJP would stake a claim to form the government in Karnataka. A delegation of the State BJP had met with the party's central leadership and meeting had remained inconclusive.

In a late night development, the Speaker disqualified three MLAs, two rebels and an independent and by Friday morning, B S Yeddyurappa announced that he was on his way to Raj Bhavan to stake a claim to form the government.

While many in the BJP would be happy to see their government in the state, some are also of the view that the decision could have been a hurried one. Did the disqualification of the MLAs or the restlessness among the MLAs housed in Mumbai lead to such a decision?

While the fate of three MLAs was made clear by the Speaker, the decision on the remaining 13 has not been taken as yet. For Yeddyurappa, the first priority was to stake a claim and then be sworn in.

This is just one development and the road ahead for Yeddyurappa is not exactly an easy one. If the Speaker does not disqualify the rest of the MLAs, Yeddyurappa would need to accommodate each one of them in his cabinet or ministry. He would then have to take a trust vote on the floor of the House.

For now this is how the numbers stand: With the disqualifications, the strength of the House now stands at 222. The magic number is 112 and the BJP has 105. With the support of one independent now, since the other one is disqualified the strength of the BJP in the house is 106 and that makes it 6 short of the majority mark.

The BJP would look to take the trust vote in the house which would have a reduced strength.

After the resignations of the MLAs, the House strength had come down to 208. With the disqualifications and if the rebels remain absent in the House, the strength would be 205. This means that the magic number is 103 and the BJP has 105 on its own and the support of one independent MLA.

There is not much clarity on what the Central leadership of the party has to say about these developments. The Central BJP did not want to rush into things and wouldhave liked more clarity before a claim could be staked.

The party wanted more clarity on the rebels before taking any decision. The loyalty of the rebels is another issue that the party is factoring in on, a source also told OneIndia.

In such a scenario, Yeddyurappa would look to take a floor test on a House with a reduced strength. The issue pertaining to the rebels is far from over and any decision taken by the Speaker would be challenged before the Supreme Court of India. The road ahead is rocky and finally the fate of Karnataka is most likely to be decided by the Supreme Court.