Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Sep 13: The political activities have been taking place in Karnataka at such a pace that keeping track of them is becoming difficult. It is claimed that some leaders from Shivamogga, who had been to New Delhi this week to take part in the national executive of the party there, had met chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and held secret parleys with him.

This meeting has kicked up lot of curiosity as the BJP is known to be trying to woo some Congress legislators to its side in an attempt to topple the coalition government of H D Kumaraswamy.

Kumaraswamy from JD (S) and Siddaramaiah from Congress 

It is said that the leaders who met the chief minister and discussed certain issues with him, kept the meeting such a closely guarded secret that they even did not inform the other leaders who were accompanying them.

Was this meeting an effort to forge an alliance with new permutations involving BJP and JD(S)? Some believe that everything is possible in politics where there are no permanent enemies. Therefore, the possibility of a new coalition emerging from nowhere cannot be totally ruled out, sources say. There could also be a strategy of forming a new coalition between BJP and JD(S) if the current coalition fails to sustain itself. If sources are to be believed, the central leaders of the party were aware of the meeting and what was discussed there.

Could JD(S) also be thinking about finding some alternative in view of the fact that the government appears to be always on tenterhooks because of the actions of some Congress leaders?

In the meanwhile, Congress paraded before the media some legislators who were rumoured to be considering the option to side with the BJP. Maski MLA Pratap Gowda Patil, Hospet MLA Anand Singh, Ballari rural MLA Nagendra and Raichur (rural) legislator Basavaraj Daddal, were produced before the media at the KPCC office by its president, Dinesh Gundu Rao, to allay the notion that they were thinking of withdrawing support to the coalition government.

There is a speculation that after the ministry expansion and Lok Sabha election, differences within Congress might escalate, in which case BJP can reap benefit by entering into alliance with JD(S). There is also a feeling that Yeddyurappa may not be the popular choice to become next chief minister, and another leader might accept the post of the deputy chief minister ceding the chief minister's post to JD(S).

In the meantime, it is said that BJP leaders had contacted several JD(S) and Congress leaders during the last some days and offered them some lures. It is believed that these conversations were recorded, and if there is threat to the coalition government, these may be made public. Because of these developments, the central government might go slow in the case against D K Shivakumar, sources guess.