Twists and turns in the Karnataka political crisis persisted on Wednesday as a pressured JD(S), in the light of en masse resignation by BJP ministers on Tuesday, hinted that it was willing to give up power but there would have to be conditions for handing over reins to the BJP. The bogey of a tie-up with the Congress in the eventuality of a BJP pullout was also raised, even as the AICC here refused to come out clearly on the possibility.
??There are conditions and rules and regulations for power transfer,?? chief minister HD Kumaraswamy was quoted by PTI as having told reporters in Bangalore. He, however, did not elaborate on his remarks. The CM held confabulations with his father former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, who indicated that nothing much would happen before October 6. The two were understood to have discussed the likely fallout of the collective resignations by BJP ministers.
??Rajnath Singh has already said that he will meet me on October 4 and his party will wait till October 6 to take final decision on the power transfer,?? Gowda told PTI. Armed with a one-line resolution from JD(S) legislature party which has authorised him to take a decision on power transfer, Gowda said the party?s political affairs committee will take a decision on October 5. Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, meanwhile, said earlier in the day that his party is ??not asking any favour. We are not making any new demand. Whatever was agreed upon, JD(S) should abide by it.??
The crisis created by the resignation of BJP ministers, however, also fuelled speculation that the JD(S) leadership was attempting to get in touch with Congress to try and work out an arrangement with them.
However JD(S) joining hands with Congress might not be an easy process as many local Congress leaders had tough time with JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda earlier. Prime Congress personalities like former deputy chief minister Sidharamiah, an ex JD(S) functionary and a friend turned foe of Deve Gowda, former Congress ministers DK Shiv Kumar and Deshpande would not digest the JD(S) realigning with the Congress party. JD(S) sources though said: ??Any thing may happen in politics at anytime and there is no permanent friends or enemies in the politics.??
The Congress central leadership, however, struck a cautious note on the issue on Wednesday refusing to signal what it could do if the JD(S) broke up with the ?communal? BJP. ??We are waiting and watching. We do not have any role at the moment,?? Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan told reporters here, insisting that politics is a constantly evolving and changing dynamics.
Congress had so far been giving signals that it does not want to get embroiled in the power tussle in Karnataka as such a move would be electorally counter-productive. JD(S) had sprung a surprise on Congress, in January last year, when it pull the rug from the party-led coalition in the state and joined hands with BJP in a power sharing pact.
