Patna: RJD leader and former Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for accusing the Congress of trying to subvert the popular mandate in Karnataka.


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He pointed out that the BJP had not got the mandate to form the government in Bihar in 2015. 



Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and Lalu Prasad's RJD had joined hands, along with the Congress, to form a grand alliance to fight the Bihar Assembly elections. The combine had defeated the BJP emphatically. However, the JD(U), which had snapped ties with the BJP in July 2013, returned to the NDA fold in July 2017, after cutting ties with the RJD.


In a dramatic twist, the Congress on Tuesday offered support to the JD(S)-led by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda to form a government as the Assembly polls in Karnataka threw up a hung verdict. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party, but fell short of a majority.


JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday wrote to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala informing him about his decision to accept the Congress' support to form the government.


BJP's CM candidate Yeddyurappa accused the Congress of trying to subvert the popular mandate and come back to power through the back door by offering support to JD(S) to form the government. He said that the people of the state had rejected the Siddaramaiah government "lock, stock and barrel" and had given a mandate for change.


Elections for 222 seats in Karnataka was held on May 12. A record 72.36 percent of the 5.07 crore electorate cast their votes, with 27,908 electors in defence services exercising their franchise through postal ballots. In all, 2,622 candidates, including 217 women contested the 222 seats, including 36 reserved for Scheduled Castes and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes.


Polling for RR Nagar seat was deferred on account of alleged electoral malpractices, while it was countermanded in Jayanagar seat following the death of the BJP candidate.