With there being no sign of any reconciliation between any of the political parties in Karnataka, the wait and watch game has begun all over again.
An expansion of the Janata Dal (Secular)-Bharatiya Janata Party Council of Ministers in Karnataka will take place within a fortnight, state Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said Tuesday.
The biggest loser in the ongoing political tug-of-war between the Janata Dal-Secular and the Bharatiya Janata Party will be the state of Karnataka, which has incurred a loss of $5 billion in terms of business investments. Market pundits say that the perennial political instability in the state and indecision by the government in the past one year has lead to the loss of investment opportunities.
The Janata Dal [Secular] is expected to make a last ditch effort to persuade the Congress to accept its demand that it should lead the coalition government with Siddaramaiah as the chief minister.
Party stalwarts like Dharam Singh and Mallikarjun Kharge, however, seem to have no problem with the Congress teaming up with the JD-S, as they feel that their main efforts should be directed towards preventing the BJP from coming to power.
As of now, it seems highly unlikely that Kumaraswamy will pass the floor test as the BJP has decided to pull out. However, things may be different if the Congress steps in by then and supports the JDS from outside.
In a hard-hitting interview to rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa Sadananda Gowda says the BJP will not settle for anything other than power.
Reacting to the charges made by the JD-S against the BJP in Thursday's convention, Yediyurappa said that he too had a long list of charges against the JD-S but would not like to discuss it now.
The Janata Dal Secular convention to discuss the ongoing power tussle in Karnataka started in Bangalore on Thursday. The main speakers are former PM and JD-S supremo H D Deve Gowda, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Home minister Prakash.
Most people feel that the JD-S should hand over power to the BJP as per their agreement, while some feel that if the relationship between the coalition partners has soured to this extent, the state should opt for mid-term elections.
JD-S to decide on action against Kumaraswamy and supporters
He also announced appointment of another senior leader D Manjunath as chairman of the party's Parliamentary Board and Meerajuddin Patel as chairman of the Political Affairs Committee.
In the midst of the all the drama that is taking place with regard to the transfer of power in Karnataka, one thing becomes clear and that is the Bharatiya Janata Party at the moment is in no mood for compromise.
In spite of the JD (S) flip-flopping on the issue of power transfer in Karnataka, its ally Bhartiya Janata Party is hopeful that the JD-S will keep its side of the bargain, party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
Janata Dal-Secular chief H D Deve Gowda on Thursday said that there is no question of him holding talks with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in New Delhi on the transfer of power until the BJP in Karnataka sorted out its internal differences.
The Janata Dal-Secular said it will transfer power to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka only if it acts against Tourism Minister, B Sriramulu. The 2 parties formed the govt with an understanding Kumaraswamy will hand over power to BJP on Oct 3.
"How can I continue in the ministry when the minorities are neglected?" asked Khan, becoming the first minister to strike a discordant note ever since the JD(S)-BJP ministry came to power in February last year.
Gowda had said that his party was ready to join the National Democratic Alliance provided the BJP permits H D Kumaraswamy to continue as chief minister for the next 20 months.
The fall of the Congress-led government through a political coup leading to a new Janata Dal (Secular)-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition and the arrest of two Pakistani militants made 2006 an eventful year for Karnataka.
Despite the national executive's decision to suspend him, Kumaraswamy said he continued to be the legislature party's leader.
In a new twist to the political developments in Karnataka, Janata Dal (Secular) chief H D Deve Gowda on Saturday suspended Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy
Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa as CM and Deputy CM of Karnataka.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader B S Yediyurappa took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister.
'Modiji and Amit Shahji should see my work.' 'Everybody gives me a lot of respect.' 'National leaders should see that.'
While some of the senior Congress leaders are sending feelers to the JD-S regarding power sharing in the seat, a host of other Congress legislators feel that any sort of alignment with the JD-S will spell doom in Karnataka.
Different options to defuse the crisis threatening the existence of the coalition had reportedly emerged at the Gowda-Gandhi meeting but both parties have remained tightlipped on the outcome of the talks.\n\n
He was accompanied by senior leaders.
The JDS group, which was opposed to forcing a snap poll on the people of the state in the event of its coming out of the government, is likely to rope in Bharatiya Janata Party support to form an alternative government.
Karnataka Ministers, who moved a court in Bengaluru seeking injunction against the media from publishing or airing anything 'defamatory or unauthenticated' against them, on Saturday said it was a precautionary measure against a 'big political conspiracy' targetting them.
But any speculation that Hyderabad, which has emerged as a hub of IT industry in a relatively short span of time, might stand to gain, might be premature.
Who do you think is right? Will Murthy's resignation adversely affect Bangalore's development? Or is Deve Gowda's claims correct? Or is it a matter of development versus petty politics? Tell us.
Minor explosions occurred in the office buildings of the Janata Dal Secular and Congress parties in Bangalore on Friday evening, police said on Saturday. \n
Terming his ouster by JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda as an "act of vendetta and undemocractic," sacked Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Saturday, categorically ruled out joining any party, including the Congress.