Karnataka Polls: BJP, Cong Eyeing Post-Poll Alliance with Kumaraswamy; Sources Say 'JD(S) To Go With...'

Several pollsters have predicted that the Congress may have an edge in Karnataka in a hung assembly, with JD(S) emerging as a “kingmaker”  by winning around 30 seats.

Hopeful of the prospect, sources in JD(S) said that party leader and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is now not only going to be the ‘kingmaker’, but is also set to become the ‘king’.

Media reports claimed that both Congress and BJP reached out to JD(S)  for forging a post-poll alliance.

As per sources said, after getting reports from the party workers on the ground, Kumaraswamy boarded a flight to Singapore and is handling the negotiations from there with the national parties.

They further claimed that the JD(S) has “decided to go with the Congress as per the wishes of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, and his son Kumaraswamy will become the Chief Minister”, according to a report by news agency IANS.

Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the bete noire of the Gowda family, may have to bear the brunt of the alliance as there are all possibilities of JD(S) honchos asking Congress to keep him at bay.

It is, however, to be seen how things shape up on May 13, when the results will be declared.

Meanwhile, the BJP is claiming that all exit poll predictions had fallen flat before and no survey could foresee the victories achieved by the BJP.

Several exit polls have predicted that the Congress will have an edge in Karnataka, which is BJP’s southern citadel, in a hung assembly with a couple of them even projecting that the grand old party may get a majority on its own.

While the BJP, riding on the Narendra Modi juggernaut, is looking to break a 38-year-old poll jinx where the state has never voted the incumbent party to power since 1985, the Congress is hoping for a morale booster victory to give it much-needed momentum to position itself as the main opposition player in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

It also remains to be seen whether former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) will emerge as a “kingmaker” or a “king” by holding the key to government formation, in the event of a fractured mandate, as it has done in the past.

(With inputs from agencies)