Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jun 11: JD(S) supremo, H D Deve Gowda, has been tired of handling the complex problems bothering the coalition government in the state. It is learnt that he has warned All India Congress Committee president, Rahul Gandhi, that unless effective measures are undertaken to control the situation, JD(S) will be on its own.

It is reported that Deve Gowda has blamed Siddaramaiah for most of the problems as he has been creating bottlenecks in the smooth functioning of the coalition government.

Deve Gowda met Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leader, Ahmed Patel, at New Delhi on Monday. He held detailed consultations with them about the current political scenario in Karnataka. He also raised the topic of Lok Sabha election, expansion of the ministry and problems faced in ministry reorganization. It is said that he also analyzed reasons for these problems.

The ministry expansion has been slated to be held on Friday. On this occasion, two independent MLAs would be made ministers. JD(S) is also examining the desirability of inducting one of its legislators as minister. It is to be seen whether Deve Gowda's moves will result in the ministry expansion as he has shared his discontentment about the current state of affairs.

During his talks with Rahul Gandhi, Gowda reminded him about an earlier letter he had written before the election, warning him that the Congress will face setback because of Siddaramaiah's attitude. He said that the situation would not have been this bad, had measures been taken on the basis of his letter. He said that unless the Congress leaders move to restrain forces which destabilize the government, JD(S) would be forced to seriously consider the option of walking out of the coalition.

Initially it was planned to reorganize the state ministry by obtaining resignations from three ministers each from Congress and JDS. But later Siddaramaiah insisted that expansion of the ministry would be enough and asked JD(S) to give up its quota of two seats to independent legislators who are being inducted into the ministry for stability. This has incensed Gowda. He said he wants to give these two seats to Muslims and Dalits and hence his party would not sacrifice these two seats. Gowda also expressed his unhappiness about in-charge of Congress affairs in Karnataka, Venugopal, duly pointing out that he does not have the guts to override Siddaramaiah.