Leaders from both coalition parties JD(S) and Congress from Tumakuru, where former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda lost to the BJP, batted for putting an end to the coalition. They blamed the coalition for the drubbing of their respective parties in the State.

D.C. Gaurishankar, JD(S) MLA from Tumakuru Rural constituency, at a meeting of party workers, said the coalition was responsible for the defeat of Mr. Deve Gowda and if he had contested as JD(S) candidate alone, he would have won by 2 lakh votes. “He lost as the BJP and Congress votes got polarised against him,” he said. “Even if Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy throws me out of the party, it’s fine by me. But we need to end this coalition. The perceived political instability of the government has affected our image and hence the result,” he said.

A day earlier, former Congress MLA from Madhugiri K.N. Rajanna had also batted for ending the coalition and its government claiming it was the coalition with the JD(S) that was responsible for the poor show of Congress in the State.