Yashwant Sinha ‘predicts’ BJP to win Karnataka floor test by ‘foul means’

Veteran politician Yashwant Sinha tweeted to predict that the BJP will win the vote of confidence in Karnataka on Saturday.

New Delhi, May 19: Veteran politician and former member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Yashwant Sinha, who has been closely observing the ongoing political drama in Karnataka, tweeted to predict that the BJP will win the vote of confidence on Saturday. He also added that his former party would resort to "foul means" to achieve the target.

"I can predict that tomorrow's vote of confidence in Karnataka will be won by BJP by foul means. Just wait and watch," wrote former Union minister on the micro-blogging site on Friday.

I can predict that tomorrow's vote of confidence in Karnataka will be won by BJP by foul means. Just wait and watch.

— Yashwant Sinha (@YashwantSinha) May 18, 2018

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the BS Yeddyurappa government to prove its majority on the floor of the house at 4pm on Saturday. The order was passed by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising of Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan.

The apex court was hearing a petition filed by the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) combine in Karnataka against the decision of Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala to invite BJP's Yeddyurappa to form the government. Vala had given 15 days to Yeddyurappa to prove his government's majority.

Earlier this week, Sinha held a protest in Parliament against Vala's controversial decision to invite Yeddyurappa to be the new chief minister of Karnataka. He called the entire political development an Indian Political League, comparing it to the Indian Premier League or the IPL in cricket,

"Now, MLAs and MPs will be auctioned. They will support those who will give them maximum money," Sinha said on Thursday.

Of late, Sinha has been regularly questioning the Narendra Modi government at the Centre over various issues, including the demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Recently, at a public meeting he announced that he had left the BJP. His critics say that Sinha is attacking the BJP because he did not get any political berth in the Modi government. However, he denied the allegations and said that he had no political ambition and had long left electoral politics.

Since the time of campaigning, Karnataka has been witnessing a series of political events where parties resorted to dubious means to woo the voters. The drama reached its crescendo as no political party got majority in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly after the results were declared on Tuesday.

The voting was held for 222 seats and remaining two seats will go to polling in the coming days. For Saturday's floor test, a party or an alliance needs the support of 111 MLAs (as JD(S)' HD Kumaraswamy has won two seats) to form the next government.

The BJP, which has won 104 seats, has been accused of abusing the office of the governor to install its "minority government" in the state. The Congress has won 78 seats and the JD(S) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) together has won 38 seats.

The two parties formed a post-poll alliance to stake their claim to form the government. The alliance partners say together they have 116-117 MLAs (the numbers keep on fluctuating as a few of the newly-elected MLAs are busy switching their loyalty from one side to another) with them.