Doubts were once again expressed on the stability of the JD(S)-BJP coalition on Thursday.  
Well, political circles were rife with speculation on Thursday that the BJP high command had dropped hints to the state unit of the party, to break its ties with the JD(S).
So overriding was the speculation in the legislature lobby that Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa hurriedly convened a press conference, even as the poll process to the presidential election was on, to scotch the “rumours” and blamed the Congress for spreading the “canards”.
One rumour that did the rounds was that the BJP high command wanted the state unit to cut ties, as it was fed up with the mixed signals emerging from the JD(S) on the transfer of power.
Another rumour, that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had called on JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda in New Delhi, added fuel to the speculation that Congress once again wanted to join hands with the JD(S) to form the government.
Finally, JD(S)’s decision not to support the NDA candidate in the presidential election, B S Shekhawat, had prompted the BJP high command to conclude that there was no point in continuing its ties with the latter.
However, Mr Yediyurappa exuded confidence that this government would complete its 40 month-term and saw no difficulty in transferring power to the BJP in October.
Doubts cast
He stated that the Congress, which time and again expressed serious doubts about the survival of the coalition government, had become desperate. “Unable to digest the reality, it is spreading the canards”, he remarked.
Asked whether he considered the JD(S) decision not to back the NDA candidate in the presidential election as a setback to the coalition government, Mr Yediyurappa replied in the negative. “Kumaraswamy and myself have reached an agreement only for forming the government. So far as political issues are concerned, both parties are free to take whatever decisions are best suited for them”, he said.
When his attention was drawn to the statement by some JD(S) Ministers that they were opposed to the transfer of power to BJP, Mr Yediyurappa said, “already Mr Deve Gowda has made it clear that only Mr Kumaraswamy is empowered to speak on the issue”.
On the efforts being made by some BJP leaders to break the party, Mr Yediyurappa categorically said that the rumours were without  basis.