Though the number game is not in his favour ahead of the trust vote on Thursday, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has reportedly not given up yet.

His survival strategy will hinge mainly on the outcome of the Supreme Court’s hearing on the petitions of rebel MLAs on Tuesday, say sources.

They say he is hoping there could be a possibility of the court taking a tough stand as the issue has attracted national attention and also has the potential to set a precedence for such political situations in the future.

Indications are that Mr. Kumaraswamy is considering technical and legal actions as a do-or-die battle to rein in the troublesome legislators. “He is playing his cards close to his chest,” a source close to the Chief Minister said.

“As coalition partner Congress has started feeling that the situation is slipping out of its hands, the Chief Minister has realised that the onus of saving the government is on himself, if at all. He appears to have come to a stage where either he must do something tough to save the government or gracefully exit,” a political strategist said.

Mr. Kumaraswamy is also mentally prepared for an exit if the survival strategy does not succeed, he said. In such a scenario, he will step down after making an emotional speech where he would want to list the programmes taken up by him, sources said.

The idea is to ensure that the speech turns out to be a platform for further political campaign by him to hold his party cadre together, they said.

Meanwhile, several MLAs from the JD(S) and some Ministers from the Congress are said to have alleged that Public Works Minister and the Chief Minister’s elder brother H.D. Revanna was interfering in their works. Most of them, including the rebel MLAs, cited his alleged interference as one of the reasons for the disgruntlement.