Bengaluru: The HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in Karnataka toppled yesterday after losing the confidence motion in the Assembly, after just 14 months in power.
The Congress Janata Dal-Secular had tied up last May as the counting of votes in the assembly elections indicated a hung verdict with the BJP emerging as the single largest party. But since the beginning, the coalition had been shaky, with lawmakers from the two parties being at loggerheads.
However, this is not the first time that JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy has failed to complete his term as the Chief Minister. In fact, Kumaraswamy’s first stint as chief minister in the BJP-led coalition government lasted less than two years from February 2006 to October 2007.
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He had a disagreement over power-sharing with the BJP and refused to support the saffron party-led government in the state.
His second term as chief minister in the Congress-JD(S) government began in May 2018 after a hung verdict in the Assembly election.
What is even more peculiar in the political history of Karnataka is that only three chief ministers, all from the Congress, have been able to complete their full five-year term in the history of Karnataka.
S Nijalingappa (1962-68), D Devaraja Urs (1972-77) and Siddaramaiah (2013-2018) were the chief ministers who had completed their full term.
After losing the confidence motion, Congress, while slamming the BJP for “unscrupulous political horse-trading”, said it was a “moral victory” and promised to hold nationwide protests against the “immoral, blatant and brazen political destabilization”.
Ms Kalinga