Kumaraswamy seeks blessings from BJP stalwarts

Six months after forming a fragile coalition government with the help of BJP, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumarawamy met senior BJP leaders A B Vajpayee and L K Advani in New Delhi for the first time, sparking off speculation over his motives.

Though Kumaraswamy had flown to New Delhi on twelve occasions ever since he became the Chief Minister of Karnataka with the help of BJP, the JD (S) leader had assiduously avoided any meeting with either Vajpayee or Advani, apparently in deference to his father and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda’s policy of shunning communal forces.

But, when Kumaraswamy touched Vajpayee’s feet to seek his blessings on Tuesday, the simple gesture marked a departure from Gowda’s “anti-BJP” stance in his long and chequered political career. Later, Kumaraswamy invited Vajpayee to inaugurate the Almatti reservoir in North Karnataka on August 21.

During his visit to New Delhi on Tuesday, Kumaraswamy also met L K Advani at the Parliament House.

Though Kumaraswamy declined to comment on why he felt that this was the “appropriate time” for meeting the two leaders after having avoided them all along, political observers are quick to point out that the Chief Minister was seeking the blessings of the BJP stalwarts at a time when he was in the thick of bribery charges levelled by BJP legislator Janardhan Reddy.

Kumaraswamy has completed six months out of his allocated tenure of twenty months. Under the power-sharing arrangement, BJP leader B S Yediyurappa is expected to take over as the Chief Minister during the latter twenty months tenure of the coalition Government.