Karnataka election: When Sonia Gandhi's call brought Deve Gowda on board

Deve Gowda has been upset with Rahul Gandhi for "personal attacks" during the campaign against his family

It took a phone call from former Congress president Sonia Gandhi to Janata Dal (Secular) president H D Deve Gowda to stitch the Karnataka alliance.

JD (S) Secretary-General Danish Ali counts senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief Sitaram Yechury as mentors, and had negotiated, along with Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP's) Satish Chandra Mishra, the JD(S)-BSP alliance for the Karnataka Assembly polls.

Ali had been convinced from the time the voting ended on Saturday evening that Karnataka’s voters were unlikely to give a majority to any of the three principal players. He was also convinced that