Janata Dal (Secular) supremo Deve Gowda met Congress President Sonia Gandhi [Images] in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss the crisis gripping the Congress-JD-S coalition in Karnataka. The meeting did not make much headway and Gowda indicated that he would meet Sonia Gandhi again if needed.

The crisis erupted when Gowda's son H D Kumaraswamy with 47 JD-S MLA's withdrew support to the Congress-led coalition on January 18 and staked claim to form a government with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has 79 members in the 224-member House.

Though Gowda had intially indicated that he would stick with the Congress, in a volte-face he backed his son's rebellion, saying that what Kumaraswamy had done had saved the party in the state.

With a trust vote scheduled for January 27, much depended on the outcome of the Gowda-Sonia Gandhi meeting. Dharam Singh, who has maintained that the government is in no danger of dissolution, had stated earlier that since it was Gowda and Sonia Gandhi who had overseen the formation of the coalition, it would also be up to them now, to decide what course of action to take.

Kumaraswamy, for his part, has refused to reconsider his decision and stands firm on aligning with the BJP.

Congress Plenary 2006