Coalition again? HD Kumaraswamy-DK Shivakumar meet sets tongues wagging

Hubballi: Ahead of the December 5 assembly bypolls, former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Congress leader and former minister D.K. Shivakumar, once considered fierce rivals, held a discussion about 'political developments' at Hubballi airport on Monday.

The meeting between the two leaders has gained importance in the backdrop of speculation that the Congress and JD(S) may forge an alliance again and form a government if the ruling BJP fails to win the required number of seats to gain a majority after the by-elections.

Kumaraswamy, who was on his way to Chikkaballapura from Belagavi, talked with the Congress leader for over 15 minutes at the VIP lounge of the airport after his chopper had to force-land at Hubballi airport due to bad weather. Shivakumar was returning to Bengaluru after cutting short his tour of Kagwad and Athani Assembly constituencies to respond to the notices issued by the Income Tax authorities.

There have been reports that Shivakumar could be one of the frontrunners for the post of Chief Minister of a revived JD(S)-Congress coalition if the BJP government collapses post the bypoll results on December 9.
Addressing the media, Kumaraswamy said that he is not keen to become chief minister again.

Stating that anything can happen in state politics, he predicted that the disqualified legislators including Gokak BJP candidate Ramesh Jarkiholi will suffer a defeat in the forthcoming by-election. Regretting that no one is talking about the development works undertaken by him during the tenure of the previous Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government, he claimed that he has waived off farmers' loans to the tune of Rs 25,000 crores apart from releasing Rs 19,000 crores as grants to the Assembly constituencies represented by Congress legislators.