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Updated: Jul 26, 2019 17:30 IST

BJP’s central leadership finally offered a glimpse of its view on the political churning witnessed in Karnataka over the past few weeks. Party’s Working President JP Nadda said that the Karnataka government had collapsed due to its own reasons and the BJP will provide a “stable” and “clean” government under BS Yeddyurappa’s leadership.

Nadda, also rejected suggestions that party’s Karnataka mascot was over the hill at 76 years of age and may not qualify to hold a post according to BJP’s own retirement policy for party elders.

“When BSY was leader of opposition, you didn’t raise the 75-year issue,” he asked scribes.

Nadda’s views come moments before Yeddyurappa takes oath—for the 4th time-- as Karnataka CM after the fall of 14-month old Congress-JD(S) coalition government in a trust vote concluded on Tuesday. BJP has 105 MLAs and the support of one independent in a house with current strength of 223 MLAs.

Nadda said that the local BJP MLAs will decide if they want to replace KR Ramesh Kumar as the Speaker of the Assembly. Karnataka Speaker Ramesh Kumar had yesterday disqualified three rebel Congress MLAs while keeping the suspense on the fate of the remaining 14 rebels who played a key role in bringing down Kumaraswamy government.

Nadda made it clear that any decision to engage with the rebel MLAs will be a “strategic” one and will have to be taken at the local level.

BJP Working President also refuted suggestions that the saffron party had engineered the collapse of Karnataka government. “The government had fallen of its own reasons,” he said, reiterating the view expressed by Karnataka BJP leaders.

A group of Karnataka BJP leaders, including Jagdish Shettar, Arvind Limbavali, J C Madhuswamy, Basavaraj Bommai and Yeddyurappa’s son Vijayendra Thursday had met party chief Amit Shah in New Delhi and reportedly discussed government formation.