On a day that portended a political storm in the State with two Independent lawmakers – H. Nagesh and R. Shankar withdrawing support to the Congress-JD(S) government amid strong indications that the Opposition BJP may poach Congress and JD(S) MLAs to dislodge the government CM H.D. Kumaraswamy's calm and relaxed demeanour surprised many in the Congress, especially his predecessor and Congress leader Siddaramaiah.
According to party sources, Siddaramaiah reportedly commented on Kumaraswamy's response to the turn of events and wondered how he could remain so "indifferent" to BJP's purported game plan to overturn the coalition government. "Siddaramaiah told a close colleague that he was surprised at the alleged indifference of Kumaraswamy to the political development in the State and wondered what could be the reason. He also told his colleagues that it would be near impossible for the former BJP chief minister B.S. Yedyurappa to get the resignations of the required number of MLAs to dislodge the government," said a well placed source.
Siddaramaiah was not the first Congress leader to have been foxed by Kumaraswamy's "leniency" in the face of a brewing political avalanche.
Two days before Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar had also expressed the same view. "Our chief minister is a bit lenient towards the BJP. He is not exposing the facts he knows about the brewing conspiracies. He is adopting a policy of wait and watch," said Mr. Shivakumar, while referring to 'Operation Kamala' by the BJP.
According to unconfirmed sources, Kumaraswamy is not allegedly averse to the idea of going with the BJP in the event of the collapse of the coalition government. "The BJP may have offered him a national role with his brother Revanna as the deputy CM here. He has not openly agreed to the offer. One has to wait and watch," said the source. —Bala Chauhan
