Bengaluru: Hours before the crucial counting of votes of the May 12 Assembly polls, Karnataka's top political leaders made no secret of their ambition for power with the BJP's CM candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa reportedly even booking the Kanteerava stadium in the city for his swearing-in ceremony.
The open jockeying for the top posts came amid persistent reports of a backroom deal being worked out by Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) with senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad arriving in the city to oversee preparations for government formation, if the Congress makes it.
The ruling Congress has decided to seize the initiative after the bitter experience in Goa where it had to give up power to the BJP despite emerging as the single largest party, after the saffron party managed to strike a deal with smaller outfits. The Congress does not want this scenario to be repeated in Karnataka with sources confiding that emissaries have already met JD(S) state president H.D. Kumaraswamy in Singapore to work out the details for a pact.
According to top sources, Kumaraswamy, who left on an "impromptu" two day vacation/medical tour to Singapore, was reportedly followed by JD(S) MP Kupendra Reddy and a real estate baron to firm up a discreet 'Plan B' of the two parties to form the coalition government. Kupendra and the realtor are close to Congress leader in the Lok Sabha - Mallikarjun Kharge and JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda.
With Azad in Bengaluru, the Congress and JD(S) may be able to swiftly finalise a power sharing arrangement in case of a fractured verdict, which many of the exit polls have already predicted.
