This Article is From May 18, 2018

Amid Karnataka Power Tussle, HD Deve Gowda In Tirupati For 85th Birthday

Mr Gowda had arrived in Tirupati last night along with his family members, according to news agency PTI. He turned 85 today. After offering prayers, Mr Gowda left for Bengaluru immediately.

Amid Karnataka Power Tussle, HD Deve Gowda In Tirupati For 85th Birthday

Karnataka Elections 2018: HD Deve Gowda visited the Tirumala temple on his 85th birthday (PTI)

Tirupati: Former prime minister and JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda today offered prayers at the Lord Venkateswara hill shrine in the town of Tirumala near Tirupati in the Chittoot district, around 560 kilometres from Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh. Mr Gowda had arrived in Tirupati last night along with his family members, according to news agency PTI. He turned 85 today. After offering prayers, Mr Gowda left for Bengaluru immediately.

The Congress-JD(S) combine are locked in a power struggle with the BJP in Karnataka.

The Supreme Court today ordered a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 PM tomorrow, drastically slashing the 15-day window given by the Governor to BJP Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to prove majority.

After today's interim order, the Supreme Court will later decide on the bigger question: whether in case of a split verdict, it is the single largest party without a majority or an alliance with a majority that gets first shot at power.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that the court order vindicated his party's stand.

"The BJP's bluff that it will form the Govt., even without the numbers, has been called out by the court. Stopped legally, they will now try money and muscle, to steal the mandate," Mr Gandhi said in a tweet.

Fearing bribes and threats to engineer defections, the Congress-JDS combine shifted lawmakers around all of yesterday and past midnight, moved them out of Bengaluru in three buses. Their plan to fly them out in chartered flights failed as Congress leaders claimed they were not granted permission.

The three buses drove into Hyderabad this morning and the lawmakers checked into a five-star hotel. They now have to double back for the floor test.

The Congress and JDS allege that the lawmakers were threatened and also offered Rs. 100 crore bribes and ministries. One of the lawmakers, Anand Singh, was "kidnapped", the Congress claimed. Another Congress legislator also went missing in action after putting down his signature on a list of party legislators.

(With Inputs From PTI)
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