Bangalore, August 3
The Congress today effectively shut the door for any re-alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) in case the JD (S) ditches the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rather than handing over the Chief Minister’s post to it in October.

The JD (S) is scheduled to hand over the CM’s post to the BJP under an understanding reached with it after a majority group of legislators, led by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s son H.D. Kumaraswamy, withdrew support from the Congress 15 months ago.

There has been intense speculation in political circles that the JD(S) could revive its ties with the Congress as the party is averse to handing over power to the BJP in October. Some months ago, former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh had also hinted at such a possibility.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing a meeting of select Congress leaders today, said he was not in favour of reviving ties with the JD (S) in case the JD (S)-BJP government collapses due to differences between the two partners. He said it was clear that the ruling coalition was not in good shape and that party workers should be prepared to work unitedly to return to power in the next general election.

The Prime Minister said “winds of change” were definitely blowing in favour of the Congress. “I do not know what will happen in October,” he said while apparently referring to speculation over whether the JD (S) would hand over power to the BJP or not. He said he stood for keeping the communal forces at bay in Karnataka.