Karnataka: Deve Gowda predicts mid-term polls, then makes a U-turn

Bengaluru, June 21: Former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) chief H.D. Deve Gowda on Friday claimed that mid-term polls will be held in Karnataka. And now he claims that the JDS-Congress coalition government will complete its term.

At First, the former Prime Minister said he could see mid-term elections around the corner in Karnataka, and that the fate of Karnataka's coalition government was in his ally Congress' hands. He also stated that he had been opposed to the coalition when it was formed last year.

"I am not sure how long this coalition will last, and it seems to me that mid-term polls are imminent. People are witness to all the developments and I am also keeping a close watch," he told reporters in Bengaluru Friday. "We are leaving it to the Congress to decide on the longevity of the government."

His comments came amid simmering differences between the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition in Karnataka.

Then, within two hours, he had flip-flopped, saying he had been referring to local body elections, and certainly not the assembly elections.

"I've said local body elections, not about the assembly. I'm here to build my party. As (chief minister and Deve Gowda's son) Kumaraswamy mentioned, the government will continue for the next four years," he said.

Months after the assembly elections, Kumaraswamy had broken down at an event organised to felicitate him. "The chief minister's post is not a bed of roses, it's a bed of thorns," he had said while talking about the coalition.