Congress insiders say that former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in a bid to break away from the alliance with the JD(S), is holding talks with 13 BJP and 7 JD(S) MLAs. Party sources say that Siddaramaiah wants to gather 20 MLAs on his side and ensure that he has the numbers post May 23.
Sources say that Siddaramaiah is already in talks with JD(S) MLAs K Mahadeva from Piriyapatna, Suresh Gowda from Tumakuru Rural, Narayana Gowda from KR Pete, Ravindra Srikantaiah from Srirangpatna, Avinash Kumar from T Narasipura and several others.
“Siddaramaiah needs 20 MLAs who will resign from the Assembly and force re-election. He has aspirations of becoming the Chief Minister and once the Lok Sabha election results are out, he is planning to put his plan to action,” the Congress source said.
BJP insiders on the other hand say that Siddaramaiah’s close aides in Bagalkote are holding talks with 13 BJP MLAs from north Karnataka. “Siddaramaiah needs the north Karnataka BJP MLAs to defect to the Congress. These MLAs have been promised money and a ticket to contest polls and some of them have also been offered ministerial portfolios. If he manages to get the BJP MLAs to defect, he will be making a smooth headway in the BJP bastion,” the BJP source said.
Congress sources say that the party's decision to form a hasty coalition after the state Assembly election results were announced has left Siddaramaiah embittered. “Siddaramaiah wants to redeem his reputation. He has been running the show in the background. The fact that Deve Gowda’s family members have benefited because of his defeat has made him unhappy,” the source added.
Siddaramaiah was defeated by JD(S) leader GT Devegowda in his home constituency of Chamundeshwari during the 2018 Assembly elections. In addition, when the Congress and JD(S) coalition was formed, the party's high command in new Delhi had agreed to a deal which made Kumaraswamy the Chief Minister. "Siddaramaiah wanted to be the CM and he lost the seat to his arch rival - the Gowda family. That's why he wants to bring them down by poaching the JD(S)'s best leaders," the source said.
On Monday, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy met with JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda and held talks about keeping the JD(S) flock together. JD(S) sources say that several MLAs from Mandya were unhappy about the party sidelining local leaders during the Lok Sabha elections. “Many local leaders wanted a shot at contesting the MP elections. They are unhappy that Nikhil Kumaraswamy was given the ticket. The move has made JD(S) leaders assume that they cannot further their political ambitions if they remain with the party,” the JD(S) source said.