Beware of your friends.

By the time you read this, the presidential hurdle for the formation of the next BJP-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka would have been almost cleared. So is it Advantage BJP? It's more likely to be Advantage JD(S), despite having its own chief minister. Reason: The JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda has more than made his intentions clear of his ambitions to remote control the Yeddyurappa government. As said last week, the backseat driving has begun even before the drive to the Vidhana Soudha. The senior Gowda basks in the role of playing a spoiler. Remember how he made life hell for the Dharam Singh government? It's going to be déjà vu for the BJP this time, like it was for the Congress earlier.

From day one, BS Yeddyurappa is going to find the hot seat too hot for his liking, even though he will be fulfilling his life's ambition of becoming the CM. Every day, it will be a struggle for survival, leaving little or no time for genuine governance and delivering on the promises made to his party workers and the people of the State. As the long-suffering public know, development works have come to a standstill in the city, and there is no administration worth mentioning in the State. The MLAs are too busy in protecting their turf and avoiding an early election, to worry about the problems in their constituencies. Which, is precisely what the wily old fox wants. To ensure that the new dispensation under Yeddyurappa would not be allowed or disabled to match his son, HD Kumaraswamy's rather decent track record.