JD-S supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda met BJP president Rajnath Singh in New Delhi late on Friday evening and conveyed to him the sentiment of JD-S Political Affairs Committee that power cannot be handed over to the saffron party, going back on a power-sharing agreement reached between the two parties 20 months ago.

After pulling out all its ministers from the Karnataka cabinet over the issue of power transfer in the state, the BJP is now trying to exert more pressure on the JD-S.

Several BJP legislators feel that time had come to withdraw support and pull down the JD-S government in the state. Kumaraswamy, officially, continues to be the chief minister despite the BJP ministers' resignation. The resignation letters, meanwhile, are yet to reach the governor.

The BJP claims that the JD-S may not be handing over the resignations to the governor so as to delay the evil day.

According to BJP MLAs, this situation was favourable for the party and hence they feel they should officially withdraw support from the government.

The Congress, which could be a crucial player in Karnataka demanded a trial of strength in the Assembly within two days to prevent horse-trading.

The demand was made by All India Congress Committee media department chairperson M Veerappa Moily, who said that the political crisis in the state showed that the Kumaraswamy government does not have the numbers.

He alleged that BJP leader Yashwant Sinha's reported statement in the matter was an "open invitation" to defectors, which could lead to "lot of horse-trading and use of money power."

Moily said the governor should not give more than a day or two to the government to prove its majority to avoid manipulation.

Image: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy
Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

Also See:
Coverage: Political Crisis in Karnataka

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