Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday said that the resignation of Tourism Minister Sriramulu will not solve the coalition's woes.
Sriramulu had accused the chief minister of trying to murder him and the ruling Janata Dal-Secular in turn threatened to freeze the power sharing talks.
Kumaraswamy said Sriramulu has submitted his resignation several times in the past, but that did not change anything. "His resignation does not heal the pain that has been caused to me," the CM also said.
What made matters worse was the comment made by Sriramulu after he tendered his resignation. He said that the CM is unnecessarily using his incident as an excuse not to transfer power. "God will not forgive him if he does not transfer power as promised."
The JD-S however refused to comment on whether power will also be transferred to the Bharatiya Janata Party on October 3. The JD-S says that after the CM submits his resignation, the political affairs committee of the party would meet and decide on the next course of action.
Meanwhile all eyes are set on the results of the local body elections which will be announced later on Sunday. Preliminary results show that the JD-S and the Congress are running neck-and-neck in most places while the BJP is running a close third.
Experts say that the results of these elections will hold the key to the future of the political scenario in Karnataka. The outcome of the elections to the 208 local bodies will have a direct bearing on the coalition partners who are at daggers ends where transfer of power is concerned. Moreover the results will also increase the bargaining power of both the JD-S and BJP depending on who wins the polls.
