With the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular yet to reach a consensus on formation of a coalition government in Karnataka, reeling under a fractured verdict, uncertainty continued to rule the political scene.
The entire political activity has now shifted from Bangalore to New Delhi with Congress and JD-S leaders camping in the national capital in the hope of reaching an agreement on the issue of installing a government at an early date.
Former prime minister and JD-S chief H D Deve Gowda, who left Bangalore for New Delhi on Wednesday, has been making moves to open parleys with Congress, JD-S sources told PTI.
Gowda has been joined by the party's chief ministerial candidate Siddaramaiah, senior leaders M P Prakash, P G R Sindhia and others to assist him in the talks.
JD-S leaders were hoping that since the Congress has crossed the first stage of naming its senior leader Manmohan Singh as prime minister, after its party president Sonia
Gandhi declined to accept the post, it would turn its attention to Karnataka affairs.
JD-S sources said, till evening no talks have been possible with Congress, which was busy otherwise in the Union Cabinet formation and a host of other issues.
The sources hinted that Congress may invite their leaders for negotiations late in the evening.
Deve Gowda also met Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, who is mediating between his party and the Congress.
Gowda met Pawar after senior Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee and Ahmed Patel held parleys with the NCP chief.
The meeting assumes significance, as there has been a snail-like progress between the JD-S and Congress in talks in Bangalore where Gowda-led party having 58 members was reportedly insisting on the chief ministership like in Jammu and Kashmir where the Congress conceded the top post to the PDP, despite it having lesser seats.
The Congress with 65 members is believed to have expressed its readiness for a Maharashtra pattern to retain the chief minister's post.