Amid conflicting signals sent by his party over the transfer of power to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday ruled out renewing coalition ties with the Congress.
"There is no question of talking with the Congress about formation of another coalition government in the state," said Gowda, whose party dumped the Congress in 2006 after sharing power with it for 20 months.
The former prime minister said that he will take a decision about transferring power to the BJP after meeting top party leaders on September 27.
"I will meet Atal Behari Vajpayee, L K Advani and BJP President Rajnath Singh," said Deve Gowda. According to the power-sharing arrangement in the state, the JD (S) will hand over the baton to the BJP on October 3.
Gowda and his son Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy have been keeping the saffron party on tenterhooks over the power transfer issue. The BJP, on the other hand, sees this as its first opportunity to form a government in a southern state.
Earlier, Kumaraswamy had assured the BJP that he will keep his promise about the power transfer. But the chief minister has also maintained that the final decision will be taken by his party.
Sources close to Kumaraswamy and Gowda have advised the duo against making public statements about the matter.