Amid speculation over change of leadership in the JD(S)–Congress coalition government to save it from the brink, JD(S) leaders met coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah on Sunday to discuss the possibility of such a move.
JD(S) Ministers C.S. Puttaraju, G.T. Deve Gowda, and S.R. Mahesh, and party legislator Shivalinge Gowda met the former Chief Minister for nearly an hour to discuss the possibility of him taking charge. Later, they also met Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar and explained the circumstances under which they had put forth the idea to save the coalition from collapsing, especially ahead of the trust vote scheduled for Monday.
Sources said though the issue of change of leadership had been discussed within the JD(S) camp as well as with senior Congress leaders over the last one week after more legislators joined the rebel camp, the offer was a last-ditch attempt to woo back rebels. “At least four rebel legislators are identified as followers of Mr. Siddaramaiah. If he is able to convince them to come back in a scenario where coalition leadership changes, the government could scrape through the trust vote,” sources said.