Karnataka: Congress may align with JD-S

The Congress, which is making a desperate bid to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power in Karnataka, now says that Sonia Gandhi will have the final say on whether to ally with the Janata Dal-Secular or not in order to form the government.

There seems to be a wave of uncertainity in the state of Karnataka on whether JD-S will hand over power to its coalition partner, the BJP on October 3.

As per the agreement between the two parties, H D Kumaraswamy would have to step down as the Chief Minister on October 3 and hand over the post to BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

Some senior leaders of the Congress who made an offer to the JD-S stating they were ready to support them from outside now say that Sonia will have the last word.

This statement comes in the wake of some Congress leaders camping in New Delhi trying to coax the party high command not to enter into any pact with the JD-S.

These leaders argue that the party's image will take a beating if it realigned with the JD-S. It was the JD-S which pulled down the Congress government led by N Dharam Singh while entering into an alliance with the BJP.

Former chief minister N Dharam Singh said that the party will realign with the JD-S if Sonia wants it.

Although many Congress leaders in the state are opposed to the idea of realigning with the JD-S, the final call will have to be taken by the party high command, Singh said.

Singh's proximity to JD-S supremo, and former prime minister Deve Gowda is not an unknown fact in Karnataka politics.

The president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Mallikarjun Kharge is however tight-lipped about the future course of action.

Not specifying whether they would realign with the JD-S, he said the party has to prepare itself for a mid-term poll as the coalition government is unlikely to survive in the state.

Chief Minister reacts:

Kumaraswamy has ruled out a mid-term poll and says that the JD-S-BJP combine will complete its full term in office.

The CM had hinted a day back that there could be an election scenario in the state and the people should ready themselves for it.

He also said the transfer of power will be smooth.

Kumaraswamy said that the Congress could not digest the fact that they were out of power and since the day this government had been formed they had been trying to mislead the public.