Till Sunday night, it seemed as though Karnataka was heading for a mid-term poll. However the scenario seems to have changed with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal-Secular coming to an understanding after a late night confidential meeting.
The meeting which was attended by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and several other BJP and JD-S leaders decided that ties between the two parties have to be renewed. Sources who attended the meeting said that it was decided that B S Yediyurappa would be chief minister while Kumaraswamy would become the deputy chief minister.
The meeting also resolved some of the key issues that had haunted the power transfer issue between the two parties. The BJP was ready to hand over both the home and finance ministries to the JD-S. At the meeting, BJP leaders assured the JD-S leaders that troublemakers from their party will be kept under control, but the JD-S should not seek their dismissal.
The other condition laid down by the BJP was that the JD-S at no point should rake up the Mangalore riots issue.
Yediyurappa, who was not present at the meeting, cut short his visit to rural Karnataka and returned to Bangalore on Monday. He is expected to meet with other leaders and chalk out the strategy. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh too is holding a meeting to decide on the next course of action.
Most JD-S leaders close to Kumaraswamy too were keen on transferring power to the BJP as they felt that the image of party had taken a severe beating after they refused to hand over power.
But there are certain hitches too. JD-S supremo H D Deve Gowda and his other son, H D Revanna are not too keen on this alliance. However political pundits say, "The duo were not happy initially when the government was formed too."
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