K'taka CM meets Rahul, assures coalition govt functioning smoothly

New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy met Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday and conveyed to him that the state government was functioning smoothly and there was coordination between ruling coalition partners JD(S) and the Congress.

Kumaraswamy's meeting with the Congress chief comes in the backdrop of voices of dissent gaining ground in the ruling coalition in the southern state after two Congress MLAs met former chief minister S M Krishna at his Bengaluru residence on Sunday. All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal is in Bengaluru currently to placate the disgruntled state leaders.

"The CM apprised Rahul Gandhi of the current political situation in the state and said the coalition government in the state is functioning smoothly with cooperation and coordination between both the parties," an official statement said.

During the brief meeting, the Janata Dal (Secular) leader also urged Gandhi not to quit as the Congress chief, saying "the nation needs his service", the statement added. Kumaraswamy also discussed the outcome of the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka with Gandhi. The coalition government in the southern state has been fragile since its inception with reports of its collapse surfacing every now and then.

Following the drubbing of the Congress-JD(S) combine in the LS election, where the two parties managed to win only one seat each, a senior Congress leader had claimed that the state government would collapse after June 10.