Congress-JDS in Karnataka? When Siddaramaiah was made to eat his own words

Siddaramaiah had previously said the question of post-poll alliance with JDS does not arise. However, Congress has now offered support to the very same party in Karnataka.

New Delhi: Just this month, he had allegedly said he suspects JDS leaders of getting indirect funding from BJP. Just last month, he had said that JDS leaders are daydreaming about playing the role of kingmakers. And all of that came to a naught as Siddaramaih's poor performance in Karnataka elections forced Congress party to offer support to the very same JDS leadership.

Tuesday was a day of political manoeuvring, a day of backchannel talks and also a day which saw a very, very sombre Siddaramaih who stood silent as Congress leaders announced support for JDS. "We don't have numbers to form government. The Congress has offered to support JD(S) to form government," Congress' G. Parameshwara told mediapersons. Senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad added that their offer has been accepted by HD Deve Gowda and his son HD Kumaraswamy.

While Congress is the second single-largest party, its offer of support for JDS may be a massive embarrassment for Siddaramaih who had repeatedly levelled a number of allegations against the party. "This situation (of post-poll alliance with JDS) does not arise at all. I am very confident that we will form the government on our own with a clear majority," he had said last month. "Why is Kumaraswamy attacking me? Why can't he attack Yeddyurappa or BJP? It's a game plan and an internal understanding of them to overthrow our government. No such thing will happen."

While JDS did not actually overthrow Congress government, it did one better - be at the cusp of forming government itself with Congress' support.