Encouraged by an adjustment for Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is now looking for a floor co-ordination with the Congress in the Karrnataka Assembly.“This will be an acid test for our future ties,” Deve Gowda told The Indian Express. “As the recognised opposition party, Congress will have to take the initiative.” However, he has informally broached the subject with important state leaders of the Congress. He felt there were several “burning” issues of mass interest like suicides by farmers and police firing, which warrant a combined response from the Opposition in the Assembly.Deve Gowda’s stakes in a tie-up with the Congress are indeed high. The two parties have a combined strength of 108 in the Assembly against 110 of the BJP, which rules with the support of six Independents. This delicate balance between the two sides, in Deve Gowda’s perception, obviously has the potential of a future instability. Such a prospect would naturally help the former PM to keep his flock together.The BJP, however, would find it easier to poach JD(S) MLAs once it is known that the Congress would not join hands with Deve Gowda. The temptation for the BJP is too strong to resist for long, considering how badly it needs to bolster its strength to acquire a comfortable majority.To start with, Deve Gowda has enabled the Congress to win two Rajya Sabha seats. In return, the Congress has backed him in the Legislative Council elections, making it possible for him to win two seats, instead of one. The JD(S) leader has also backed four Congress candidates for the council from the teachers’ constituencies. “This is the first positive move,” he said, hoping the “Congress would take the next logical step (of facilitating a floor co-ordination)”.Notwithstanding his keenness on an understanding with the Congress, Deve Gowda is not willing to commit himself to the nuclear deal.
