No change in stand on support to Congress: Karnataka CM

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy yesterday said Janata Dal-S had already committed its support to the Congress for formation of a federal government and there was no change in its stand.

“We have already committed our support to Congress president. Our stand is not going to change,” Kumaraswamy told reporters after visiting the Tirumala

temple with his father and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on his birthday.

“We are with the Congress. The results will come on May 23 and there will be a clear picture before the entire country,” Gowda said.

Kumaraswamy said JD (S)Congress combine would win more seats in this election in Karnataka.

“According to my analysis, we may reach 18-19 seats,” said the chief minister.

Meanwhile, ahead of the election results, the JD-S and the Congress are locked in a war of words over the post of the chief minister.

With the survival of their yearold coalition government hinged upon the verdict of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the southern state, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is waiting in the wings to grab power in case the allies part ways.

“The arch rivals came together in an unholy alliance after the May 2018 assembly polls solely to keep our party out of power. But their differences over sharing power are evident now, with their leaders sparring over who should be the next chief minister when their government’s survival itself is at stake,” state BJP leader G Madhusudhan told IANS.

Though the two allies jointly fought the parliamentary elections fielding common candidates in all the 28 seats – the Congress on 21 and the JD-S on 7 seats – the results will determine their coalition government’s fate.

For now, the war of words on social media and during the campaign for the May 19 twin assembly by-elections in Kundagola and Chincholi in the state’s northwest and northern regions over who should be the next chief minister indicates that the days of Kumaraswamy are numbered.

“The Kumaraswamy government’s survival depends on how the Congress performs at the state and national levels in the Lok Sabha polls. In the event of the BJP winning more seats in the state than the allies together or separately, the coalition government will collapse if the dozen rebels in the Congress resign from the party or forfeit their assembly seats,” a political analyst told IANS.

In the 225-member state assembly, including one nominated, the BJP has 104 seats, Congress 77, JD-S 37, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) one each. There is one independent and a speaker as well as two vacant seats.

“If the Congress fails to retain the two assembly seats in the by-poll, the coalition government’s survival depends on the party reining in its rebels, as Kumaraswamy would have just one more seat (77+37=114) than the halfway mark (113) for a simple majority in the lower house,” said the analyst.

There is no love lost between the two allies, especially at the cadre level, as evident from their rivalry during the campaigning. And an adverse verdict in the Lok Sabha polls will lead to a blame game and result in parting of ways if the Congress returns to power at the Centre or emerges as the single largest party.