Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday said his party BJP is not responsible for the crisis that has plagued the Congress-JDS coalition in Karnataka following the resignation of their legislators.
"In the initial stage we tried once but afterward we kept quiet. Congress and JDS MLAs don't have faith in their own leaders and government. We are not behind any MLAs from Congress or JDS," the BJP leader said.
Gowda asserted that the MLAs are resigning owing to their own mindset and stated that his party now has the right to form government in the state.
"We have got two independent MLAs yesterday, including them we are 107 in number now. And they have come down to 102 after Roshan Baig's resignation. Therefore, We have the right to be given an opportunity to form the government," he claimed.
The Congress has time and again accused the BJP of orchestrating the crisis, with party leaders, including Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar, Adhir Ranjan Choudhury and many others alleging horse-trading by the ruling party.
The BJP, however, has maintained that the coalition was bound to fall and that they are not responsible for it. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made the statement in Lok Sabha on Monday stating that the BJP respects parliamentary democracy.
The Congress-JD(S) government slumped into crisis on Saturday with 10 of their MLAs tendering resignations and one independent withdrawing support on Monday.
Leaders of both parties are now in a huddle to contain the crisis.
( With inputs from ANI )