Kumaraswamy will be CM till Friday morning: Sadananda

Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda claimed that the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka would collapse after the Lok Sabha poll results and HD Kumaraswamy would be the chief minister only till May 24 morning.

Gowda, a former Karnataka chief minister, also said the stage would be ready for the formation of a new government in the state after that.

"Kumaraswamy will be the chief minister of Karnataka till tomorrow evening only. Tomorrow evening or by day-after-tomorrow morning, because if he does not get to sleep in the night...so day-after-tomorrow morning, hundred per cent Kumaraswamy will step down," he said.

Speaking to reporters here, the BJP leader said, "The stage will be set for the formation of a new government."

Speculation is rife that an adverse outcome in the Lok Sabha polls would impact the stability of the coalition government in Karnataka.

Exit polls have forecast that the Congress-JD(S) alliance is likely to perform badly in the parliamentary polls.

The two parties had faced the polls in an alliance, despite resentment at the grassroot level, especially in the old Mysuru region, where they consider each other as arch rivals.

The BJP will win big in Karnataka, bagging 21 of the 28 seats, the pollsters have predicted.

In the 2014 polls, the saffron party had won 17 seats in the southern state.

The ruling alliance partners also fear that the BJP may poach some of its disgruntled MLAs through "Operation Lotus" after the Lok Sabha polls, thereby destabilising the government.