A section of Janata Dal Secular leaders has started taking potshots at the alliance as the coalition government in Karnataka plans a cabinet rejig to accommodate some sulking Congress lawmakers.

Just when the alliance appeared to have stabilised, with even the BJP saying it would not do anything to pull down the government, some JDS leaders, including the state president, have become the latest cause for concern.

While state unit chief A.H. Vishwanath resigned on Tuesday taking responsibility for the Lok Sabha poll debacle and for being allegedly sidelined in the coalition, a veteran leader has asked chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of the JDS to dissolve the government.

Former minister Basavaraj Horatti, who played a crucial role in stitching up the alliance with the Congress, wants the government to call fresh elections.

“Some Congress leaders have been interfering in the functioning of the government. This has strained our relations,” Horatti said, urging Kumaraswamy to end the “experiment”.

“When there is no possibility of smooth functioning of the government, it is better to let it go,” Horatti added.

He blamed Kumaraswamy and his father, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, for Vishwanath’s resignation.

“His resignation is very unfortunate. But both Kumaraswamy and Deve Gowda have failed to control the Congress leaders, who have kept interfering in the administration,” Horatti said.

While he didn’t take any names, it was clear that he was targeting the chairman of the coalition coordination committee, P.C. Siddaramaiah, whose functioning has led to complaints even within his party, the Congress.

Others like minister G.T. Deve Gowda have gone to the extent of praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his “development model”.

The BJP won 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, while the Congress-JDS combine had to be satisfied with one seat each. A BJP-backed Independent won the Mandya seat, which used to be the pocket borough of the JDS.

G.T. Deve Gowda, however, said he had no plans of quitting the JDS and joining the BJP. “Karnataka sired the rebirth of the Congress and helped build the JDS,” he said recently, referring to how the state had embraced the Congress in the post-Emergency elections in 1977 when the rest of the country had rejected the party.

JDS lawmakers who met Kumaraswamy late on Wednesday night agreed to cooperate with the plan to accommodate new ministers.

“All the JDS ministers offered to step down to help the chief minister bring in disgruntled MLAs. But as it appears, we might absorb one Independent MLA into the cabinet to strengthen the government,” said a party functionary.

The alliance partners had split the sanctioned cabinet strength of 34, with 24 going to the Congress. While the Congress has one of the slots vacant, the JDS has two.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had recently requested Kumaraswamy to explore the possibility of filling up the vacancies by appointing a few of the dissidents who have been causing problems.

But since at least half a dozen miffed lawmakers are seeking cabinet berths, the two parties would have to create a few vacancies by dropping some ministers.

“We are trying to come to a consensus on the formula as we don’t want to create new dissidents by removing some from the cabinet,” the JDS functionary said, referring to how Congress leader Ramesh Jarkiholi was dropped from the ministry in December to accommodate his dissident sibling Satish Jarkiholi. Instead of buying peace, the move created a new dissident in Ramesh, who is now bargaining for power.