JD(S) on the verge of split in Karnataka

The JD(S) in Karnataka on Monday headed for a vertical split with rebels led by party leader M P Prakash rejecting the former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s truce offer and deciding to petition Governor Rameshwar Thakur not to allow the BJP-JD(S) combine to form the government again.

Two rounds of crisis defusing parleys held by former Transport Minister N Cheluvaraya Swamy with Prakash failed to make headway, sources in JD(S) said.

Swamy, accompanied by JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda’s elder son H D Balakrishna, met Prakash but the talks failed to fructify as the rebel leader stuck to his opposition to JD(S) reviving snapped ties with the BJP, the sources said.

“Yes Cheluvaraya Swamy and Balakrishna met me. But I do not want to say anything on the outcome of the meeting,” Prakash told reporters before heading towards Raj Bhavan to meet the Governor.

The JD(S) rebel faction has decided to urge the Governor not to invite the BJP-JD(S) combine to form the government as they have already ruled the state and broken apart.

In the petition, the rebels have pointed out to the mudslinging campaign indulged in by these parties after the collapse of the JD(S)-BJP government led by H D Kumaraswamy and the advertisement campaign mounted by them against each other.

Agencies