Gowda wants to seek people's mandate

NEW DELHI: Preparing for fresh elections in Karnataka, BJP’s chief negotiator Yashwant Sinha said, "JD(S)’s decision is an insult to the 2004 mandate which was in favour of BJP and we want fresh elections in Karnataka."

While attention is focused on Congress, there is no indication that the party had revised its estimate that the Gowdas are unreliable partners. The remarks of Congress media cell in-charge and former Karnataka CM Veerappa Moily that both BJP and JD(S) were "power hungry" was an indication of the reservations that Congress harboured.

Though Congress legislature party was looking for signals from the high command, it was unlikely that AICC would enter into a deal with JD(S). The view in Delhi is that any move to prop up Gowda and his son would only damage Congress by associating it with the incumbency of the current regime without any clear benefits.

Among those who attended the BJP parliamentary board meeting were LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Karnataka BJP legislature party leader BS Yeduriyappa and state party president Sadananda Gowda.

JD(S), on its part, favoured fresh elections and ruled out any truck with Congress to continue in power. "Our intention is to go for people’s mandate," Gowda told reporters after an extended meeting of his party’s political affairs committee here on Saturday.

To questions whether JD(S) would have any tie-up with Congress, Gowda ruled out any such arrangement saying his party stuck to the policy of maintaining equidistance from both Congress and BJP.

Gowda said JD(S) was "constrained to recommend to the state unit not to transfer power to BJP" as the saffron party not only began a "vicious campaign" against the party, but one of the BJP ministers also filed an FIR against the CM charging him with conspiring to murder him.