Karnataka: Congress reaches out to JD(S), offers CM’s post

The Congress is reportedly reaching out to the JD(S) in a bid to form the government in Karnataka. The Congress it is said is ready to offer the post of Chief Minister to the JD(S) in a bid to keep the BJP which is the single largest party out of power.

While initial leads suggested that the BJP would easily breach the magic number, trends towards afternoon showed that the party was finding it hard to reach the magic number.

The BJP however sounded confident that it would form the government in Karnataka. With polling held only to 222 assembly constituencies, the magic number for now is 112 and the BJP stands at 6. The Congress on the other hand has 73 and the JD(S) 48. The others have won 2 seats.

The Congress had sent two of its senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Gehlot to oversee the possibility of setting up a government. The Congress has already sent feelers to the JD(S) and is even said to have offered the post of CM. There have also been a round of talks held between Sonia Gandhi and H D Deve Gowda.

The BJP has however not commented on the developments as yet.