Beleaguered Karnataka Chief Minister N Dharam Singh Friday accused Janata Dal (Secular) rebel leader H D Kumaraswamy of forcibly "taking away" MLAs and destabilising his coalition government and termed it as "nothing but horse-trading."

In his first attack on Kumaraswamy after he led the revolt to bring the Congress-JD(S) government on the brink of collapse, Singh told reporters "They (the MLAs) are not free. They are doing it at the behest of Kumaraswamy." Singh also ruled out any negotiations with the Kumaraswamy faction but said he was willing to talk to Gowda, to whom he gave a clean chit, saying, "Whatever be the public opinion that Gowda is with his son, I don't share that view".

Dharam Singh talks of quitting

He rebutted Kumaraswamy's accusation that his government has been "ill-treating" JD-S members, asserting he was "fair" to all.

"I don't want to comment on such allegations. People know how I behaved and gave good governance," Singh said.

Kumaraswamy has said it was the "insult" to his partymen that prompted him to raise the banner of revolt and pull out of the coalition government. "Even if there were to be a one-party run government, resentment is bound to occur among partymen on various issues, including transfer of officials," Singh said, rejecting the charge that JD-S legislators were ignored by the Congress.

Complete coverage: The Karnataka crisis