Three months ago, in the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly polls when the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were neck and neck in the battle for the state, many thought HD Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) will be the "kingmaker" in the state. However, Kumaraswamy had asserted that he will be the "King and not the Kingmaker."
After the results, the Congress lent unconditional support to him in a bid to stop another state from going into the hands of the BJP. Kumaraswamy, with 37 seats in the 224-seat Assembly, became the "King".