K'taka CM meets Rahul Gandhi, assures coalition govt functioning smoothly

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy met Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday and conveyed to him that the state government was functioning smoothly and there was coordination between ruling coalition partners JD(S) and the Congress.

Kumaraswamy's meeting with the Congress chief comes in the backdrop of voices of dissent gaining ground in the ruling coalition in the southern state after two Congress MLAs met former chief minister S M Krishna at his Bengaluru residence on Sunday.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal is in Bengaluru currently to placate the disgruntled state leaders.

"The CM apprised Rahul Gandhi of the current political situation in the state and said the coalition government in the state is functioning smoothly with cooperation and coordination between both the parties," an official statement said.

During the brief meeting, the Janata Dal (Secular) leader also urged Gandhi not to quit as the Congress chief, saying "the nation needs his service", the statement added.

Kumaraswamy also discussed the outcome of the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka with Gandhi.

The coalition government in the southern state has been fragile since its inception with reports of its collapse surfacing every now and then.

Following the drubbing of the Congress-JD(S) combine in the Lok Sabha election, where the two parties managed to win only one seat each in Karnataka, a senior Congress leader had claimed that the state government would collapse after June 10.

Two Congress MLAs -- Ramesh Jarkiholi and Sudhakar -- met BJP leaders at Krishna's residence, though they later claimed that their visit was not political.

The BJP, with 105 legislators, is the single-largest party in the 225-member Karnataka Assembly, while the ruling coalition has 117 MLAs -- 79 of the Congress, 37 of the JD(S) and one of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) -- in the House.