Krishna will be back in a day or two, Raj Bhavan sources said, but there was no word about whether he is going to step down immediately or not.

The Karnataka politician never hid his displeasure at his virtual confinement in the Raj Bhavan after the Congress’ debacle in the 2004 assembly polls. Krishna was then the chief minister and had led the party to the hustings. After the results, the Congress was forced into a coalition with JD(S) and sharing power with H D Deve Gowda, whose “pathological hatred” for Krishna saw the latter’s exit from Karnataka.

In fact, removing Krishna from the state’s political scene was one of the pre-conditions of Deve Gowda for extending support to the Congress. Krishna paid the price for the debacle and was shunted out of Karnataka to Maharashtra’s Raj Bhavan, where he is biding his time waiting for a call from the high command.

His Maharashtra counterpart Sushilkumar Shinde too had been moved out of the state politics and made Andhra Pradesh governor, but soon  was inducted into the Union Cabinet as the power minister and is now being tipped to be the chief minister.

 In an interview to Deccan Herald , he had said that veterans like him, who have accumulated vast experience of running administration and various departments, should be utilised in a better way. During the past 3 years, he made several attempts to convince the high command that his place is not  Raj Bhavan.

Not sure, says party
Bangalore, DHNS: Sources in the Congress in Bangalore said that Mr Krishna has not yet been sounded by the high command to return to active politics. “There are 12 senior Congress leaders who are waiting to become the next CM. Why will Mr Krishna come here at this juncture? Ms Sonia Gandhi is expected to return to Delhi from her foreign trip only in the first week of January. In case there is any move to bring Krishna back to Karnataka, then the Madam will have to hold talks with Mr Krishna and other leaders.