Punish minister before power transfer: JD-S to BJP

The Janata Dal-Secular on Thursday said it will transfer power to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka only if the latter acts against Tourism Minister B Sriramulu.

The two parties formed the government with an understanding that Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy will hand over the reins of the state to the BJP on October 3.

But now, Kumaraswamy has made it clear that the future of the government depends on the BJP. "Only if they act against Sriramulu will the transfer of power be smooth," he said.

Sriramulu, the BJP leader from Bellary had leveled certain charges against Kumaraswamy. Not only did this upset the chief minister but also provoked his father and JD-S chief Deve Gowda to cancel talks with BJP leaders in Delhi on Wednesday.

It seems as though the ghost of Bellary has returned to haunt both the BJP and the JD-S.

First it was BJP leader Janardhan Reddy who made allegations of corruption against the chief minister. This incident almost brought about the downfall of the government until the BJP decided to act and suspend Reddy.

Kumaraswamy said that since the first day the leaders from Bellary were targeting his family and him. "One of the leaders had even threatened me by saying that he would not let me enter Bellary. Is this the manner in which coalition partners behave? Is this the BJP culture?" Kumaraswamy asked.

On the charge by Sriramulu that the chief minister had tried to kill him, Kumaraswamy said, "It is unbecoming of a minister to make such baseless allegations. I have not seen his face in the past one year."

When questioned whether he would sack Sriramulu, he said that it is not the solution especially towards the end of his tenure.

The BJP is however confident that the transfer of power will come through. Until Wednesday the BJP leaders defended Sriramulu, but on Thursday they are contemplating steps to be taken as a damage control exercise.

The BJP had even gone to the extent to consulting vastu experts and had fixed October 5 as the date to swear in Yediyurappa as chief minister.