Cong to lead Karnataka coalition

For Dharam Singh, Friday, May 28 is an auspicious day.

The differences over government formation are supposed to have been ironed out on Wednesday, after the meeting between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and JD(S) leader H.D. Deve Gowda. After meeting Sonia Gandhi, Gowda said the final decision would be taken after meeting Dharam Singh. He was optimistic the government in Karnataka would be in place within two days.

It is learnt that there is also a meeting scheduled between JD(S) Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah and CLP leader Dharam Singh. The former was earlier insistent on the JD(S) leading the government in Karnataka, but since the Congress remained adamant on ‘‘either leading the government or sitting in the Opposition’’, the JD(S) had no choice.

The row is now over the number of Deputy Chief Ministers in the Karnataka Government. While Siddaramaiah is expected to take charge as the Deputy CM, another senior leader of the JD(S) M.P. Prakash belonging to the Lingayat community is another aspirant, whom Deve Gowda also favours.

In fact, it was on Sunday when Gowda met Sonia Gandhi, that the decision was more or less finalised on the Congress-led JD(S) government in Karnataka. Sonia Gandhi had asked Gowda to emulate the Maharashtra-type of Government in Karnataka since the Congress had more MLAs than the JD(S).

The Jammu and Kashmir model was ruled out by Sonia as she insisted Karnataka and J-K could not be compared. In J-K, the Congress was keen to form a secular government even at the cost of supporting a smaller party, the PDP.

Sonia Gandhi had heeded the request of Deve Gowda when he told her the JD(S) would be in no position to support S.M. Krishna as the CM, since they had contested the elections against him.

It was on Sonia Gandhi’s instructions that the very next day at the CLP meeting, instead of Krishna, Dharam Singh was elected as the CLP leader.