Javadekar refutes horse trading allegations

Union Minister for Human Resource Development and Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) In-charge Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday refuted horse-trading allegations leveled against his party.

The allegations were made by the probable chief ministerial candidate of the Congress- Janata Dal (Secular) alliance for Karnataka, H.D. Kumaraswamy.

"They(Congress and JDS) are leveling baseless charges against BJP. Poaching and horse trading is not done by BJP, Congress is famous for it. Their own MLAs are not happy with their alliance," Javadekar said.

He further asserted that the party has submitted their claim to Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala and is confident of forming the government in the state.

Talking to the reporters here, Javadekar said,"Rs 100 crore figure is not only imaginary but it is what Congress-JDS do politics through. We are going by rules,we have submitted our claim to the Governor, are confident of forming the govt."

Earlier in the day, lashing out at the alleged bribing of JD(S) MLAs, Kumaraswamy questioned as to why no inquiry was being conducted by the income tax department on the source of the cash being offered.

"JD(S) MLAs are being offered Rs.100 crore each. Where is this black money coming from? They (BJP) are supposedly the servers of poor people, and they are offering money today. Where are the income tax officials?" he asked.

Amid allegations of BJP attempting to poach MLAs of his party, Kumaraswamy stated that the same would be done by him as well in retaliation.

"Forget 'Operation Kamal' being successful; there are people who are ready to leave the BJP and come with us. If you try to poach one (leader) from ours, we'll do the same and take double from you. I'm also telling the Governor to not take any decision which encourages horse-trading," said Kumaraswamy.

Earlier in the day, the JD(S) in its meeting chose Kumaraswamy unanimously as the leader of the legislative party leader.

Results of the Karnataka Assembly polls announced on Tuesday evening showed that the BJP won 104 seats, emerging as the single largest party, while the Congress and JD (S) bagged 78 and 37 seats, respectively.

Soon after, the Congress announced that it would support the JD (S), taking their total seat share to 117, thus resulting in a fractured mandate.

As the results of the poll in the state have left the assembly in hung, the final decision will be taken by the Governor, Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala.