Karnataka stand-off continues
The standoff between the Congress and the Janata Dal(S) over government formation in Karnataka continued on Monday with each insisting on leading the coalition.
The standoff between the Congress and the Janata Dal(S) over government formation in Karnataka continued on Monday with each insisting on leading the coalition.
The Congress Legislature Party met and left it to Sonia Gandhi to decide their leader. The party has around six aspirants for the top job, including outgoing chief minister S.M. Krishna.
A Congress delegation met Governor T.N. Chaturvedi on Monday and sought three days to form a government "with support from the JD(S)".
The Congress is refusing to budge from its stand that it should lead the coalition. With 65 members, the party believes it should get the chief minister's post while the JD(S) with 58 seats should be content with the deputy CM's post.
After meeting his legislators at a posh resort outside Bangalore, an angry JD(S) leader H.D. Deve Gowda said the Congress had "lost the moral right" to lead the coalition since the people had rejected the party at the hustings. He said he would again speak to Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday.
Gowda said his party's aim was to prevent the BJP from coming to power. He said he was working for a secular dispensation "preferably" headed by his party. Asked what he would do if the Congress refused to allow his party to lead the government, he said: "I can't answer that question right now."
However, Karnataka Congress leaders were equally adamant. "Let them cry or commit hara-kiri if they want. There is no way any party other than the Congress can form the government," an angry leader close to Krishna told HT.
On Monday, there was feverish activity in both camps and demonstrations by supporters of both party's chief ministerial aspirants.