Gowda to decide the fate of next Govt in Karnataka Friday, May 14 2004 11:38 Hrs (IST)
Bangalore:
Getting down to the nitty-gritty on formation of next Government in Karnataka, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) are holding meetings today (May 14, 2004) to craft their strategies in the light of the polls throwing up a hung Assembly.
BJP, which has emerged as the single largest party in the fractured verdict, has already sent party leader and strategist Arun Jaitley who is meeting the legislators in the afternoon.
Anxious to form the Government, BJP Karnataka unit president Ananth Kumar has indicated that it would try to "chisel out" an alternative non-Congress Government, hinting it was keen on joining hands with JD-S.
But, playing it cool so far, JD-S led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda seems to be in no hurry to take an immediate session. The JD-S State unit president Siddaramaiah has openly expressed himself against joining hands with BJP.
Gowda is now in the spotlight for, his decision would decide which the next Government would be.
The JD-S supremo is meeting his party leaders and legislators at his residence today to hold consultations with them after which he would leave for Delhi in the afternoon, party sources said.
Perhaps, Gowda would like to watch the developments at the national level too before taking a decision. Party sources said their final decision was unlikely to emerge before Sunday (May 16, 2004).