Congress-JD(S) coalition lives on the edge

BENGALURU: Will the Congress-JD(S) coalition be able to survive ‘rebel’ Ramesh Jarkiholi’s huffing and puffing? The New Indian Express attempted to go beyond the ‘we have majority’ claims being made by both sides to understand the situation.

The real fear for the coalition government goes beyond the possibility of losing Ramesh Jarkiholi. It is more about how many MLAs he will take with him. As per his claims, there are at least nine others willing to follow Jarkiholi out of the party, a number which would reduce the government to a minority. Others peg this number higher, at 20, which spells doom for the coalition government.

According to sources, the Chincholi and Kundgol by-elections, followed by Byatarayanapura and Bhalki, if sitting MLAs Krishna Byre Gowda and Eshwar Khandre win the Lok Sabha seats they are contesting from, could make or break the government. If BJP manages to win all four seats, their tally will go up to 108. The support of two Independent MLAs and one BSP MLA could push them to 111.

Perhaps this is the reason why Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy cut short his holiday and rushed back to Bengaluru on Wednesday. “Unfortunately along with Yeddyurappa, some vested interests are working to keep this instability issue alive,” Kumaraswamy told The New Indian Express.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara is trying to extend an olive branch to Jarkiholi.“Whatever concerns him, concerns us all and we will deal with it at the level of national president Rahul Gandhi,” he said. Even DK Shivakumar, at the heart of Jarkiholi’s discontent, did not go beyond wishing him well.

“All 78 Congress MLAs and 37 JDS MLAs are with Ramesh,” he quipped. Meanwhile, the BJP seems to have decided to wait for May 23 and Lok Sabha results before attempting to wrest control of the state government, to avoid allegations of ‘Operation Lotus’.“The very fact that Ramesh Jarkiholi said ‘I will resign’, instead of just resigning, shows that he is open to talks,’’ political analyst Harish Bijoor said.