JD(S)-Congress push to form a coalition govt. in Karnataka

Even after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is emerging as the single largest party with 103 seats in the Karnataka Assembly polls, the Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress have staked claim to form the government with their numbers crossing the halfway mark (112) in the Vidhana Soudha.

The JD(S) with 37 seats and the Congress with 78 seats believe they can from the new government in Karnataka. On Tuesday at 5.30pm JD(S) Chief Ministerial candidate H D Kumaraswamy approached Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala and claimed that he had the support of the Congress party to form a government.

"Congress high command has taken a decision to give unconditional support to JD(S)," said G Parameshwara, president of the Congress' Karnataka state unit.

"There is a chance of Operation Kamala by BJP... Democracy runs on strength of numbers. We have 118 (seats). They may do Operation Kamala because they are known for that," said Siddaramaiah, who had met Governor Vala to submit his resignation this afternoon. The former Chief Minister was referring to the BJP's move in 2008, in which the right-wing party took the support of six indepdent MLAs to form its first government in South India.

The Congress caught the BJP off guard when it offered the chief ministership to H D Kumaraswamy to strike a deal with JD(S) to form a coalition government. When BJP workers were celebrating a victory, the Congress was busy holding talks with JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda at his residence in Bengaluru's Padmanabhanagar and offered his party support to form the next government.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said it is up to the JD(S) to choose the chief minister.

JD(S) chief H D Kumaraswamy along with Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

BS Yeddyurappa addressing media after meeting Governor Vala. BJP leaders (L-R) Sriramulu, Ananth Kumar, Muralidhar Rao and Shobha Karandlaje stand by his side. Photo: Anand Bakshi.

Shortly before the JD(S) and Congress leaders met the Governor, the BJP's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa also met Governor Vala to stake claim to form the government in Karnataka. He sought a few days time from the Governor.

"BJP has emerged as the single largest party, we have requested the governor to give us an opportunity to prove our majority on the floor of the Assembly, " said Yeddyurappa after meeting the Governor with Union minister Ananth Kumar. Yeddyurappa, who had said he would be going to Delhi to meet the BJP leadership, canceled his plans and will remain in Bengaluru. Unwilling to comment on the JD(S)-Congress alliance, he said, "... we have staked claiim to form the government. We have said we will prove our majority in the assembly, give us an opportunity."

The results have so far thrown up interesting numbers on the vote share: the Congress has won the popular vote with 38% (13.7 million votes) while the BJP has got 36.4% (13.06 million votes). The JD(S) got 18.4% (6.64 million votes) across the state. The results show that the BJP organised itself more strategically and meticulously to be able to win the highest number of seats, despite having the second highest vote share.