Karnataka polls: Is Mamata advice to Congress to have formed alliance with JD(S)?

Bengaluru: A day after at least 10 people were killed in the West Bengal panchayat polls, on Tuesday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee instead of condemning the violence in her home state doled out advice to the Congress which is on the verge of losing Karnataka Assembly elections.

The Bengal CM in a tweet stated that the Congress should have joined hands with the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) away from reclaiming the southern state. "Congratulations to the winners of the Karnataka elections. For those who lost, fight back. If Congress had gone into an alliance with the JD(S), the result would have been different. Very different," tweeted Banerjee. Till afternoon, the BJP was leading and winning in at least 104 seats in Karnataka, as per a News18 report. Thus the saffron party is still short of at least 10 seats to form the next government in the southern state. A party or an alliance needs at least 113 seats to form the government in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly. 

On Saturday, voting was held for 222 seats out of the 224 Assembly constituencies. Thus the suspense remains as who will finally form the government. On Tuesday afternoon, reports started pouring in that the Congress is in talks with the JD(S)--which is likely to get more than 35 seats (as per the result trends)--to keep the BJP away from forming the government, although the saffron party is emerging as the single largest party in the elections. Reports added that the Congress is ready to support the JD(S) and make HD Kumaraswamy the next CM of Karnataka. However, there is no official word from the JD(S) yet on the Congress' offer to support a JD(S) government from outside, reported NDTV. Amid the suspense revolving around Karnataka politics, Banerjee's advice to the Congress looks little too late and unnecessary, especially at a time when she should concentrate more on the law and situation in her home state.