A 'betrayed' Bharatiya Janata Party has announced the withdrawal of support from the Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka.A letter to this effect will be handed over to the Karnataka Governor by the state party leaders in Bangalore soon.
Announcing the decision of the party after a 60-minute meeting of the parliamentary board, Yashwant Sinha, in-charge of Karnataka affairs, said that the party would seek to fresh elections in the state.
"We have been betrayed," Sinha said.
"We have done our best and we were transparent throughout our dealings with JD(S) of which former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is the head," Sinha said.
Asked if Yediyurappa would be their chief ministerial candidate if fresh polls are held, Sinha made it clear the party would take a fresh look at the issue when the time came.
Yediyurappa, who looked upset, also attended the press meet. Sinha admitted that the party had learnt a similar lesson at the hands of Mayavati.
"We are all in the process of learning and I am sure you are learning as well," he told a journalist who raised the issue.
All members of the central parliamentary board, barring former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, attended the meeting.