After Delhi stalemate, clock ticks for Dharam

Further, Deve Gowda fixed his Republic Day programme even before a late night meeting with Kumaraswamy and his MLAs—leaving no room for a return to Delhi for further talks were Kumaraswamy to have a rethink.

Kumaraswamy, meanwhile, made a halt on his journey by road to Bangalore, stopping with his MLAs at his family home in Hassan district to receive garlands and advance congratulations on becoming the new chief minister.

‘‘On Jan 27, if Dharam Singh has not resigned he will be voted out and forced to resign,’’ JD(S) state president N Thipanna, who has been with Kumaraswamy over the past week, told The Indian Express. ‘‘The Speaker will call Kumaraswamy to form the new government since legislators from the JD(S) and the BJP have unanimously elected him our leader.’’

Deve Gowda will not be issuing any whips to the JD(S) MLAs to ask them to vote for the Dharam Singh coalition, Thipanna said.

After his return from New Delhi, Deve Gowda met with senior JD(S) leaders, who have stood by him through all the political upheaval of the past eight days. In another bad sign for Dharam Singh, discussions revolved around who would formalise talks with the BJP and how to iron out the Janata Dal legislative party leadership issue.

When Kumaraswamy led his 39 MLAs to Raj Bhavan on January 18 to announce the withdrawal of support to the Congress alliance, Thipanna had also presented a letter to the Governor stating that Kumaraswamy had been officially elected JDLP leader.

Deve Gowda however sent a letter to the Governor asking him not to recognise Kumaraswamy as the JDLP leader since senior JD(S) leader and deputy chief minister M P Prakash still held the post. On January 27, the Speaker—also from the JD(S) and a close Deve Gowda associate—will recognise Kumaraswamy as the JDLP leader giving the group led by him official recognition, the JD(S) state president said.

Sources said both the JD(S) and the BJP had consulted astrologers and decided on a swearing-in-ceremony for February 3. Deve Gowda is expected to leave on a pilgrimage tomorrow morning, returning in the afternoon when he will meet district and panchayat level JD(S) leaders and other party office bearers. He will meet Kumaraswamy and his MLAs later in the day, to set the stage for the final curtain on the 19-month-old Dharam Singh government.