Rahul Gandhi deliberately kept himself in the background, because he knew he is yet to achieve the stature to talk to a politician as senior as Deve Gowda.
Fourteen ministers are from the Congress, nine from its ruling coalition partner Janata Dal-Secular and one each from the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party.
Gowda said he would not comment on or criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi unless the latter traded charges against him.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has taken a jibe at Kumaraswamy over his Singapore visit to celebrate the new year, at a time when most parts of the state are reeling under drought.
'The BJP is trying to bribe or unleash the income tax authorities (on us).'
Yediyurappa said he would decide on members to be inducted into the ministry after consulting party president Amit Shah.
In his concluding remarks at the 'Chintan Shivir' in Udaipur, Gandhi had said that it is only the Congress that can fight the BJP at the national level and regional outfits cannot fight this battle of ideology.
There seems to be no "closure" for B S Yediyurappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party's "comeback man" in Karnataka, as he could never complete a full term in office, despite becoming the chief minister four times, surmounting odds. It's also too early to write a political obituary of the 78-year old Lingayat strongman and the 24X7 politician, the face of the party in the state for decades.
Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy also dismissed reports that a section of MLAs of their parties were unhappy over their joining hands in government formation.
Facing a truncated strength caused by the en masse resignation of 16 ruling coalition MLAs, Kumaraswamy moved a one-line motion, saying the House expressed confidence in the 14-month old ministry headed by him.
The lawmakers have said that they had moved the Supreme Court after tendering their resignation, which had also directed the Speaker to consider their resignation.
Interestingly, so far Deve Gowda's JD-S is not the target of the attack by the BJP. Come mid-May, he hopes he will once again play the role he has played before.
He said the cabinet expansion exercise may not take a week's time and a direction from the leadership was likely by Monday.
Kejriwal said the previous Congress government was called "20 per cent commission government" and the current Bharatiya Janata Party government "40 per cent commission government."
The ruling coalition had held out the threat of using the Whip against the wayward MLAs, citing the disqualification provision under the anti-defection law.
'For short-term gain, the BJP makes extraordinary promises, they take extraordinary decisions, but in the long term it is going to impact both them and the country.'
Congress Legislature Party leader and Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coordination committee chief Siddaramaiah said no one would leave the Congress and there was no disgruntlement either.
Ex-prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal-Secular likely to play the kingmaker if no party gets the majority.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and colleague Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the Yediyurappa government has no moral right to continue in office any more.
Both the Independent legislators were absent on the first day of the session.
Suresh Kumar said he was withdrawing his nomination following a direction from the BJP leadership.
"If at all he has dignity, honour and self-esteem, or if he is aware of Karnataka's culture and traditions, he should immediately resign... Do not try to stick on to the chair. You do not have the numbers," former deputy chief minister and Padmanabhanagar BJP MLA R Ashok said.
The Congress on Saturday demanded the dismissal of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka following leak of an audio clipping in which Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa purportedly can be heard mentioning the disqualification of rebel Congress-Janata Dal-Secular MLAs and alleged involvement of the saffron party's central leadership. "How the BJP misused power and money was exposed yesterday. Now people have to judge them," he said. Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah also attacked the BJP, saying what the party had done was "a conspiracy to murder democracy and a violation of the Constitution".
The only facesaver for the Gowda family was Deve Gowda's another grandson Prajwal Revanna, son of PWD minister H D Revanna, who won from Hassan seat.
Housing Minister M T B Nagaraj and K Sudhakar handed over their resignations at the Speaker's chamber in Vidhana Soudha.
The 58-year-old leader will expand his council of ministers after the trust vote on Friday which he is expected to win without any hiccups.
'I came to politics accidentally. I became the chief minister accidentally. God gave me the opportunity to become the chief minister twice'
Karnataka Legislative Assembly Secretary M K Vishalakshi, who is the returning officer for the Rajya Sabha polls, declared the 'unanimous election' of Gowda and Kharge from the Janta Dal-Secular and the Congress respectively, and BJP's Iranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti, with no extra candidate in the fray.
He said a volcano is waiting to erupt in Cong-JD(S) alliance.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Kumaraswamy made the stunning claim that the BJP offered the MLAs of his party Rs 100 crore and ministerial berths.
Senior Congress leader and coalition coordination committee chief Siddaramaiah on Saturday meanwhile, asserted that the government in Karnataka would continue.
The much-awaited Karnataka Cabinet expansion would take place on Wednesday with the induction of 7-8 ministers, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Tuesday.
The Congress has accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy to topple the party's coalition government with the Janata Dal-Secular in Karnataka.
To beat BJP, you either deny them a critical mass of Hindu vote or build a regional leader and party strong enough to protect their turf, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Despite his Janata Dal-Secular finishing a poor third in the electoral battlefield, the 58-year-old Vokkaliga leader wore the crown.
'If Shivakumar and Deve Gowda play the match well, this government will complete five years.'
This was the second time D K Shivakumar foiled Amit A Shah's plans.
"It is natural that people cannot tolerate those who are growing. Vijayendra in no way at any moment has interfered (in administration). "As state vice president (BJP), he is doing his duty by travelling across the state to strengthen the party," Yediyurappa said in response to a question.
The Congress is looking at Channapatna to take revenge on the JD-S which, it believes, has an underhand deal with the BJP to stop it from getting a majority.
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