[2][3] Subsequently, the Indian National Congress with 65 members and Janata Dal (Secular) with 58 members formed a coalition to run the government with Dharam Singh as the chief minister.

[4] in 1999 election, Indian National Congress secured a majority by winning 132 seats out of 224 seats in the assembly after which S. M. Krishna became the Chief Minister of Karnataka and Bharatiya Janata Party becoming the opposition party for the second time securing 44 seats and the two factions of the Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United) led by outgoing Chief Minister J. H. Patel and Janata Dal (Secular) led by former Prime Minister of India H. D. Deve Gowda securing 18 and 10 seats respectively.

In the elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 79 of the 224 seats.

[5] However, in early 2006, the JD(S) withdrew its support to the government and instead forged an alliance with the BJP.

A new government was formed with H. D. Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) as Chief minister and B. S. Yeddyurappa of the BJP as his deputy.