HD Kumaraswamy may have dethroned his predecessor Yeddyruppa from the Karnataka chief minister's chair and won round 1 in the game of thrones, but the battle is far from over. Citing helplessness on delivering his pre-poll farmer loan waiver promise, Kumaraswamy - who met senior Congress leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital today - put the ball in Congress' court. The Chief Minister has blatantly said that his government was at the mercy of the alliance partner Congress for fulfilling the promises made to the people of Karnataka in the run up to the May 12 assembly elections. On Sunday, Kumaraswamy, whose JDS won just 37 of the 222 seats that went to polls, said, "Mine is not an independent government. I had requested the people to give me a mandate that prevents me from succumbing to any pressure other than you. But today I am at the mercy of the Congress. I am not under the pressure of the 6.5 crore people of the state." He reiterated his position in Delhi today as well. The BJP, which won 104 seats and emerged as tge single largest party in Karnataka, slammed the chief minister. It said, "This statement of HD Kumaraswamy proves that he cares two hoots to six crore people of Karnataka. A democratically elected CM could not have stooped much lower than this in deriding his own people. One can only imagine the kind of loot he will preside to impress his Congress bosses." Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi meanwhile are abroad for latter's medical treatment. But political circles are abuzz with talks of crucial decisions including farm loan waiver and cabinet formation might be kept in abeyance till the time Gandhi's return. Kumaraswamy on his part meanwhile has also said that he will step down if he is unable to roll out the loan waiver in the next 7 days. The big question is is coalition compulsion then taking precedence over the people of Karnataka or is Kumaraswamy preparing ground to play the victim card in case the government comes crumbling down like a pack of cards.
