When Janata Dal-Secular supremo H D Deve Gowda visited New Delhi immediately after issuing a whip to his partymen to vote against the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, everyone thought that he was eyeing an alliance with the Congress. The media even reported that Gowda's attempts to cobble an alliance with the Congress received a royal snubbing from the high command in Delhi.
However, JD-S sources point out that Gowda was well aware that any attempt to form a government with the Congress would prove disastrous.
During his New Delhi trip, Gowda met senior leaders of the Congress and chalked out a strategy for the upcoming elections. Sources say that both parties have mutually agreed on a post-poll alliance, as they are certain that no party will be able to manage an absolute majority.
Even if the JD-S wins only 30 seats in the upcoming elections, it will still call the shots in the 226 member Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
As per the agreement between the Congress and the JD-S, the former will have its candidate as chief minister while the latter will be represented by the deputy chief minister. Deve Gowda wants his son H D Revanna to be Karnataka's deputy chief minister after the elections.
While the stage is almost set for a JD-S-Congress government in Karnataka, the details of the power sharing pact and the key issue of portfolio distribution is yet to be revealed.
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