New Delhi: The saffron dream to spread to the South by installing its first-ever government in politically-significant Karnataka turned sour on Saturday.

It became a case of sour grapes for the BJP as the politically shrewd H D Deve Gowda refused to play ball despite power seems to be losing from the hands of JD(S).

For BJP, it was a rude reminder of the Mayawati episode in Uttar Pradesh where the BSP denied it power in a similar fashion around a decade back.

"The moral of the story is that we have learnt a lesson and we have to be careful in the future," senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said as his party got yet another shock, this time from Gowda.

B S Yediyurappa might not be exactly the poster boy of the saffron, but his leadership saw the BJP emerging as the single largest party in Karnataka with 79 seats in the 225-member House in the 2004 Assembly elections.

The only satisfation for the BJP now is that it did not allow Gowda's gameplan.

In fact, Gowda, who used to wear his secularism on his sleeve, had reportedly described as the saddest day of his life when his third son H D Kumaraswamy turned rebel and joined hands with the BJP.

It was 20 months back, when BJP was desperate to spread its wings and the Congress was enjoying a honeymoon period at the Centre and was projecting its strength at the Hyderabad plenary.

The Hyderabad plenary, which saw demands for an active role to Rahul Gandhi in the organisation, ended on a sour note with the Karnataka rebellion seeking to take away a party-led government.

Despite the RSS, a powerful lot in Kerala, the BJP has never struck roots in that state which has generally remained a battleground of Congress-led UDF and CPI(M)-led LDF.

In Tamil Nadu, the influence of Dravidian politics never allowed the BJP to gain ground even though it flirted with both AIADMK and the DMK many a time.

The story was not different in Andhra Pradesh where it clinched an alliance with the TDP led by Chandrababu Naidu, who ensured that the saffron takes the backseat in the state.

The parting of ways with the TDP has ensured that the lotus again attempting to bloom on its own, a task considered difficult given the political polarisation between Congress and the Telugu Desam.

The BJP is now again harping on the separate Telengana issue amid hopes of striking a deal with Telegana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) led by Chandrasekhar Rao.