Two days after chief minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda entered the Assembly as a one-man army and faced with a potential split, warring factions in the ruling party may have arrived at some kind of a truce on Saturday raising the prospect of a power-sharing deal next week.
The first sign of a thaw came when the faction led by Jagadish Shettar attended a meeting held at Mr Gowda’s residence to hammer out a pact on an equitable distribution of power. Mr Shettar was accompanied by former home minister R. Ashok, also an aspirant for the deputy chief minister’s post, and state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa. Former ministers and confidants of former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Shobha Karandlaje and Dr V.S. Acharya, were by Mr Gowda’s side at this long-drawn meeting.
Neither Mr Yeddyurappa nor arch rival Bengaluru South MP Ananth Kumar were present. Sources said the discussions were inconclusive with both factions demanding 20 berths ostensibly to gain control of the Cabinet. A former minister, however, said the size or representation was not broached as this was the first formal meeting between the groups. “It is a positive sign that they came to Mr Gowda’s residence today,” he said.