A few minutes after B.S. Yeddyurappa sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka at the Raj Bhavan, several senior Congress leaders commenced a protest in front of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the State Secretariat premises opposing granting of 15 days to prove majority in the Legislative Assembly for the BJP by Governor Vajubhai Vala.
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah, State Congress president G. Parameshwara, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge and many newly elected members of the Congress participated in the protest.
Terming "unprecedented" the Governor decision to grant 15 day time to prove majority for the BJP, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the decision would allow horse-trading of the Congress and JD(S) members by the BJP. However, he said all the Congress members remained united.
Congress leaders arrived to the venue of protest in a bus from Eagleton resort at Bidadi, on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Fears of poaching its newly elected members to the Assembly, the Congress moved all its 78 members to the resort on Wednesday evening.
