Change in leadership: BJP, Congress lock horns

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday rekindled the idea of a unified Janata Parivar in the wake of the JD(U) breaking its alliance with the BJP in Bihar.

"I have been watching the developments in Bihar. It made me think of the days when the Janata Dal Parivar was under one roof. It gave three PMs," Gowda, the JD(S) supremo said in a tweet. "I am in my advanced years, but if the younger generation decides it can offer a good alternative to this great nation," he said.

BJP leaders, including Health Minister K Sudhakar, ruled out the possibility of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's replacement notwithstanding the Congress taking a dig at speculation about change in leadership.

"That the chief minister will be changed again is a dream Congress is seeing. The BJP government is stable under Bommai's able leadership. We will soon know who will be dethroned in the Congress' double-door bus," Sudhakar said in a tweet.

Chief Minister's political secretary M P Renukacharya said Bommai is doing a good job like his predecessor B S Yediyurappa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The Congress, rattled by factionalism and infighting, is spreading false information. Our immediate goal is to work for the people and help those affected by floods," he said.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Mangaluru, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel said that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai would complete his tenure.

Earlier, in a series of tweets, the Congress dubbed Bommai as "puppet CM", cashing in on speculation on change in leadership.

"The upcoming Assembly elections will be fought by the BJP under his leadership with the guidance of Yediyurappa," Kateel said.

"When the state is suffering, it is power-play for the BJP. Instead of providing relief to the people suffering from floods on a war footing, the BJP in Karnataka is looking at installing its third CM. Whenever the State is in distress, the BJP begins its power game," the Congress said, adding that Bommai is "counting hours to leave the chair".

The Congress also claimed that the Keshava Krupa (the RSS' Karnataka headquarters) "never accepted" Bommai, who came into the BJP from the Janata Parivar.