Gowda won146;t attend son146;s swearing-in

Governor T N Chaturvedi will swear in the two-man, BJP-JDS government on Friday with Kumaraswamy as chief minister and the BJP8217;s B S Yediyurappa as deputy CM. It will be the BJP8217;s first shot at power in south India.

Having sent in his resignation from the post of JDS national president last week, Deve Gowda will not be attending his son8217;s swearing-in. The former prime minister has decided to go to New Delhi to organise a national executive meeting of the JDS, senior party leaders said.

On Thursday, around 20 of Kumaraswamy8217;s MLAs called on Deve Gowda to seek his blessings, ahead of the formation of the new government. They appear to have returned rebuffed, with Deve Gowda reportedly refusing to be associated with the rebel group in any way. According to a senior JDS leader, Deve Gowda told the MLAs: 8216;8216;You are on your own and I am on my own, there will be no connections.8217;8217;

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Karnataka High Court rejected a plea filed by three independent MLAs seeking the disqualification of Kumaraswamy and his MLAs from the state Assembly and questioning the Assembly speaker8217;s decision to recognise Kumaraswamy as the JDS legislature party leader.

A division bench observed that the court could not pass an order since the Speaker had not yet come to a decision on the disqualification issue.