The Hindu : Karnataka News : Temporary lull in political activity

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 16, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Temporary lull in political activity

By T.S. Ranganna

BANGALORE, MAY 15. There is a temporary lull in political activity in Bangalore as the scene has shifted to the national capital. Senior leaders of the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) are holding talks there on forming a Government in the State.

The Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna; the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President, B. Janardhana Poojary; the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary in charge of party affairs in the State, Vilasrao Deshmukh; the AICC Secretary, Mirza Irshad Baig; the Large- and Medium-scale Industries Minister in the Krishna Government, R.V. Deshpande; and other Congress leaders are camping in Delhi for discussions with the party High Command.

Senior leaders of the Janata Dal (S), which has emerged as a strong contender for power with 58 MLAs, are also in Delhi for its Parliamentary Board meeting, which will be attended among others by the former Railway Minister, Madhu Dandavate, and Bapu Kaldate. Apart from the national President of the party and former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, other senior leaders such as the State unit President and former Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, M.P. Prakash, P.G.R. Sindhia and D. Manjunath are part of the group involved in discussing the formation of the Government.

According to sources in the Congress, the party High Command will not be able to give any attention to the issue of forming the Government in Karnataka, till a Government is formed at the Centre. The Congress President, Sonia Gandhi, has convened a meeting of the coalition partners on Sunday to discuss the formation of the Government at the Centre and she might not find time till Tuesday to sort out the Karnataka imbroglio.

Mr. Deve Gowda, who has kept his cards close to his chest, has preferred not to hold discussions with the State Congress leaders. Hence, the Congress High Command might depute some senior leaders of the party for deliberations with Mr. Deve Gowda.

Congress sources said that the party would be happy if the Janata Dal (S) formed the Government with the support of the BJP and it would be content to sit in the Opposition. The sources quoted statements by Mr. Prakash and Mr. Sindhia that it was time to re-do the 1983 experiment when the Janata Party-Kranti Ranga formed the Government with the support of the BJP, and that no party was untouchable.

The sources said that the Congress need not fight shy of trying to form the Government on the grounds that it would attract criticism because it had lost the mandate to rule. The argument is that the BJP leader, Rajnath Singh, became the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister despite the mandate against the party.

The sources maintained that there was a clear mandate for the secular forces represented by the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) in the State, and the former had every right to form the Government, if the latter supported it.

The Congress, the sources said, had the support of seven independent MLAs.

Meanwhile, the newly elected MLAs are also discussing the possible decisions their leaders might take. A large number of Janata Dal (S) MLAs met at the residence of the party leader, H.D. Kumara Swamy, who has been elected from the Ramanagaram Assembly constituency.

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