Amid hectic political activities with parties trying to get the 'magical number' of 113 in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, Governor Rameshwar Thakur has said that he has not yet taken any decision on the formation of a new government.
Thakur said that he received letters from both the Janata Dal (S) and the Bharatiya Janata Party regarding the formation of the government, but added that he was yet to decide on what to do next.
Thakur had convened an emergency meeting on Sunday and held discussions with his advisors. When questioned about the meeting, he said it was a routine affair aimed at discussing state-related issues. He said that there was no discussion regarding the formation of the government.
Meanwhile, almost all political parties in the state kept the governor busy throughout the day. First it was Yashwant Sinha, senior BJP leader who called on Thakur at the Raj Bhavan earlier during the day. Sinha refused to divulge the details of his meeting with the Governor, but added that there was a positive signal.
Later, during the day, the Congress leaders met the governor and urged him not to invite the BJP to form the government. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said they had urged the government not to permit the BJP to form the government with the JD(S).
Terming the alliance "unholy", Kharge said the two parties fell out three weeks ago and now they were back together. The Congress also told the governor that there was a faction within the JD(S) which did not support the formation of the government with the BJP. However Kharge did not divulge what the governor had to say on the issue.
The statements by the Congress leaders gives an indication that they have not been able to muster enough support through JD(S) leader M P Prakash who had expressed his unhappiness with the JD(S)-BJP combine.