KCR to 'house' JDS MLAs in Hyderabad to prevent poaching

HYDERABAD: The BRS leadership is eagerly awaiting the results of Karnataka Assembly results which will be declared on Saturday. In the event of a 'hung Assembly', the BRS leadership reportedly offered to help the JDS leadership in shifting their MLAs to Hyderabad to prevent poaching by the BJP and the Congress.

Hyderabad was the epicentre for 'camp politics' after the BJP, Congress, and the JDS had failed to secure a clear majority in the May 2018 Karnataka elections.

Despite not having numbers, the BJP formed government with B.S. Yediyurappa as Chief Minister. The magic figure to form the government was 113, but the BJP won 104 seats.

Fearing poaching of MLAs from the Congress and JDS by the BJP in order to save its government, the Congress and JDS shifted their MLAs to Hyderabad, resulting in the BJP government collapsing and Yediyurappa resigning as CM after only two days in office, even before facing a trust vote in the Assembly.

The Congress and JDS MLAs were lodged in different star hotels in Hyderabad and the BRS government (then TRS) provided full police security to MLAs to prevent them from poaching and helped the formation of JDS-Congress government in Karnataka later.

A year later, however, the alliance fell apart and Yediyurappa returned as Chief Minister.

Prior to the current Assembly polls, Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao met JDS leaders H.D. Deve Gowda and H.D. Kumaraswamy and extended his support to the JDS. Rao declared that he wanted Kumuraswamy to be the CM and went went on to stress that the BRS leaders and party workers will work hard to ensure the JDS victory.

Rao made these comments while addressing an event at Telangana Bhavan, the party's headquarters, on December 9 last to formally sign the papers sent by Election Commission approving the party’s name change from the TRS to BRS, which was attended by Kumaraswamy.

Kumaraswamy also attended the TRS meeting on October 5 last year on Dasara, which was held to pass a resolution seeking the EC to approve the party's name change to the BRS. The JDS chief attended the BRS office inauguration in New Delhi on December 14. Further, Rao declared that the JDS and BRS would not enter into a pre-poll alliance as the BRS was not interested in contesting Karnataka Assembly polls.

However, neither Rao nor ministers nor MLAs took part in campaigning in support of the JDS. After the declaration of results, the CM reportedly wants to help JDS again in forming the coalition government with the Congress if the results throw a hung verdict and in the event of the JDS emerging as the 'kingmaker'.