“Kumaraswamy has taken my permission. The JD(S) MLAs will vote for the BJP when the vote of confidence is moved in the Assembly”, Mr Gowda said on Monday.

He said in an interview to a TV channel that Kumaraswamy has taken the decision to counter the Congress efforts to split JD(S).

“A few leaders with vested interests in the Congress have been trying to break the party’s unity. When there was no complete majority for any party after 2004 Assembly election, the JD(S) decided to join hands with the Congress. Mr S M Krishna had requested me to ask Sonia Gandhi to continue him as chief minister of the coalition set-up. But I rejected it. Since then, he has been upset with me and has been trying to break the party. Even after becoming the Maharashtra Governor, he did not stop his efforts. Similar efforts prompted Kumaraswamy to go with the BJP once again,” Mr Gowda said.

He said BJP national President Rajnath Singh also spoke to him regarding forming government once again.
“I have told him I don’t have any objection to formation of the coalition government.” He said the present situation would not have arisen provided the coalition partners had discussed power sharing across the table instead of going to the media.

“Mr Kumaraswamy never said he will not handover power. But a conducive atmosphere for handing over power was not created. However, it was a bad time”, he said.

Asked about his letter to the Governor appealing to him to dissolve the Assembly, Mr Gowda said, “Yes, I had appealed to him to dissolve (the Assembly). But the JD(S) legislature party has now decided to go with the BJP. They have submitted their letter of support”.

Replying to a question whether the party will take disciplinary action against Mr Prakash, he said the question does not arise. “Mr Prakash is a senior leader of the party. He is still with the party,”he added.

HDK’s doubts
Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy has succeeded in keeping the flock together, but he is not confident his efforts would yield positive results. Asked whether he was waiting to hear from the Raj Bhavan about the new government, he said, “I am not sure of the future developments... I am not doubting Governor’s office... but we have seen what has happened in states where the Congress is in control...it is difficult to guess.. anything can happen.”

Asked whether action would be taken against Mr Prakash for opposing the Party’s decision, he replied in the negative but said, “We will wait for next 4 to 5 days... let us see”.