Gowda predicts hung assembly in Karnataka

Predicting a hung assembly in Karnataka, former Prime Minister and JD (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda has challenged the Congress and BJP to form a Government without his support.

“I will see who can form a Government without the JD (S) support”, Gowda said after chairing a parliamentary board meeting of his party in Bangalore.

Gowda said the JD (S) had almost finalized the list of candidates to be fielded in the coming assembly polls scheduled to be held next month. “The list of candidates will be released during this week”, he said.

Gowda, however, did not indicate whether he would align with the Congress or the BJP in the case of a fractured verdict in the assembly polls.

It may be mentioned here that Gowda had aligned with the Congress to form a coalition Government when the previous assembly elections held in 2004 threw up a hung assembly. But, mid-way through the term, the Dharam Singh-led coalition Government of JD (S) and Congress collapsed, leading to the installation of Gowda’s son H D Kumaraswamy as the new Chief Minister with the support of BJP.

Gowda trained his guns on his friend-turned-foe former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for misusing the official machinery to target JD (S) workers. After Siddaramaiah and Gowda fell apart three years ago, the former Deputy Chief Minister has now joined the Congress.

“We will wait till the elections are over. After that we will see the fate of these leaders, who are trying to destroy our party”, Gowda said.