Amid simmering differences, Deve Gowda hints at mid-term polls in Karnataka

Amid simmering differences between Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka, former prime minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda on Friday claimed that mid-term elections will "no doubt" be held in the state.

"There is no doubt that there will be mid-term polls. They (Congress) said they will support us for five years but look at their behaviour now. Our people are smart," Gowda told reporters here.

He claimed that he did not want his son HD Kumaraswamy to become the Chief Minister of the state.

"People are carefully watching everything. I did not ask them for a coalition government. I did not ask for the chief ministerial post to my son Kumaraswamy. They (Congress) themselves called me and asked me to form the government. I will continue my work. I do not want to blame anyone," the JD(S) supremo said.

The stunning claims made by Gowda come at a time when Congress-JD(S) coalition is going through a rough patch following its poor show in the general elections.

Gowda, who served as the 11th Prime Minister of India from June 1996 to April 1997, had lost to BJP's GS Basavaraj from Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency by little over 13,000 votes in the recently held parliamentary elections.

Both Congress and JD(S), which contested together in the Lok Sabha elections, failed to make a mark after BJP won 25 out of 28 parliamentary constituencies in the state. The Congress and JD(S) won one seat each.

Amid signs of an imminent rift, the two parties have repeatedly insisted that there is no threat to the coalition and said that the government will last for the full term of five years.

On Tuesday, Kumaraswamy had said on Tuesday that he cannot express the pain he goes through every day as he has to run the government smoothly.

"I promise I will fulfil your expectations. I can't express the pain I am going through every day. I want to express it with you, but cannot. But I need to solve the pain of people of the state. I have the responsibility of running the government smoothly," he had said.

In the 225-member state Assembly, Congress has 79 MLAs while JD(S) has 37. The BJP is the single largest party with 105 members.