Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (RJP)

Bengaluru, Jun 4: BJP party general secretary in charge of Karnataka P Muralidhar Rao said that his party would not try to destabilise the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka but indicated the coalition may fall before the December.

Speaking to media, Rao said that BJP has maintained in the past year that the coalition government is not a stable one, it cannot survive and it would not last.

When asked if the coalition government would last the calendar year 2019, Rao said, "2019 itself may be a little longer; Things are not stable is the fact now."

"New development has added to the problem", he said referring to the coalition worries that have been compounded by the BJP's spectacular performance, winning 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, leaving only two seats to the Congress and JD(S) coalition. The BJP-backed independent Sumalatha had also won.

The BJP had won 104 seats in the Assembly elections last year and added one more to its tally in the by-polls held along with recent Lok Sabha elections.

The ruling combine has 117 members -- 78 of the Congress, 37 of the JD(S), one of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and one Independent.

"The government is not legitimate. People have rejected it. Technically, as a combined force, Congress and JD(S) may say they have majority. But mandate is different, majority is different,” Rao said.

"We will not destabilise the government. It is the people who are not accepting the coalition. They do not have people's support. So many Congress and JD(S) MLAs will be eager to get out," he said.

Rao said it is not the responsibility of the BJP to keep the government in Karnataka going.

"If any MLA from the ruling coalition comes out, should I not meet? I am not playing any game of destabilizing the government," he said.