A day after it lost Karnataka, senior leaders and MLAs of the Congress met at the party’s Queens Road headquarters in Bengaluru. On the agenda was striking consensus for a post-poll alliance with the JD(S) in order to stake claim to form the government.
But by afternoon, the mood within the party had soured. Angry MLAs and senior leaders trained guns on Siddaramaiah, blaming him for the Congress’ defeat. But far from his characteristic confidence and defiance, the outgoing chief minister broke down, taking full responsibility for the defeat.
Since then, the face of the Congress’ Karnataka campaign, who led the Congress party from the front, has taken a backseat. While DK Shivakumar was responsible for keeping the Congress’ herd together, G Prameshwar took the lead in forming the coalition with the JD(S).
The photograph of an aloof-looking Siddaramaiah sitting in one corner of the Raj Bhavan while HD Kumaraswamy and Ghulam Nabi Azad seemed engaged in an animated conversation, went viral online.