Numbers game underway in Karnataka

The House is under suspended animation in Karnataka and there seems to be a lull in the political scenario.

But behind the scenes, politicians continue to play the numbers game and are working out all possible remedies to form the government. Interestingly, both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress are wooing the Janata Dal (Secular) to join hands and form the government.

BJP leader B S Yediyurappa seems to be the most confident. On Wednesday, Yediyurappa said he was ready to form the government with the help of the JDS.

Yediyurappa, who was the state's deputy chief minister, also said that he had faith in the JDS camp; that it would extend support to him. The JDS, however, says there is nothing on the cards immediately.

JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda will have his brain ticking from Thursday onwards as he believes that the time is not right to take any decisions. The pitrupaksha or shraddh period ends on October 10. During this period, no important decisions are taken.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh visited Bangalore on Wednesday. When asked, Deshmukh said there was nothing political about his visit.

"My visit is for religious purposes. I had to visit a few temples," he said.

However, Congress sources said he spent most of his time with senior state Congress leader D K Shivakumar, whose proximity to Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna is an open secret.

Just to refresh our memory, Deshmukh had visited Karnataka in 2004 -- the day on which results of the Karnataka assembly elections were declared. Deshmukh's visit yielded results with the JDS and the Congress forming the government.

So as of now, it seems unlikely that the JDS may truck with the BJP. The game for the JDS has begun afresh and they want to forget the past, as though it was a bad nightmare.

However, at this point of time, it seems unlikely that the party will get into politicking. What more it has been rightly termed as a 'family dal' (group). Gowda and his two sons, Kumaraswamy and Revanna hold the key to the party.

This family is no different when it comes to disputes. Gowda senior is now trying to keep his family together. While Kumaraswamy feels that power should have been handed over, Revanna feels they had taken the right decision in ditching the BJP.

The rift between the brothers was evident at the recently held emotionally-charged JDS legislature party meeting. Sources present in the meeting said Kumaraswamy had tears in his eyes when his brother put his foot down to supporting the BJP.

Kumaraswamy said to Revanna at the meeting, "The reputation I have earned in the past 20 months and the image that I have created has all gone in one go. Your obsession with astrology has forced me to take this decision, which is completely against my conscience and also against the public. My family has tortured me mentally in the past 20 months."

Revanna's reply to Kumaraswamy was: "Our father (Gowda) will end his life, if you go with the BJP along with these legislators."

Both the Congress and the BJP are banking on these differences. A section of both these parties are trying to woo the JDS MLAs and form the government with them. The party with the most buying power is sure to win the race.

Sources said the rates of the MLAs had increased. It goes from Rs 5 to Rs 20 crore. However, one thing is sure and that is the younger bandwagon of the JDS will surely side with Kumarswamy as they feel that a promise is a promise and the same should have been kept.