The Union Cabinet had taken into consideration that no party is in a position to form the government and hence recommended the dissolution of the Assembly. The matter will now be placed in Parliament following which a notification to this effect will be issued after debating the subject.

Since the time the elections were held in 2004, the people have just been helpless spectators to the political fiasco in the state.

The JD-S initially formed the government with the Congress, and then dumped it to team up with the Bharatiya Janata Party after a power sharing pact. But when it was time to hand over power to the BJP, the JD-S backtracked. After negotiations, the two parties agreed to form the government but the JD-S again withdrew support at the last minute when the BJP didn't agree to its 'conditions'.

Rediff.com spoke to a cross section of people to find out their views about the political crisis.

According to V K Acharya, a senior advocate, the BJP should have continued with its yatra after the JD-S ditched it the first time. The party should have subbed the JD-S' offer to support it. Acharya feels that the President should not allow any party to form the government at this stage and elections should be declared.

"For the past two months, we have watched the political developments in disgust," said  Prabhu Parthasarathy, a resident of Bangalore. "It looks as though only Deve Gowda is responsible for this mess and he should be blamed for this fiasco. Now let the people decide in the elections," he said.

"I really do not know what is happening. People across the country are talking about the sad plight of Karnataka. Hats off to Gowda for single handedly holding the state to ransom. I really wish the people are now given a say in all political affairs. As of now, the only solution can be elections. Sadly, this political crisis has also ensured that Brand Bangalore has taken a beating. People in the business circles are worried that investments may go down due to the political uncertainty. A majority of them feel that polls can be the only solution for a politically stable state," said Thomas D'souza, a businessman.

The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry states that business has taken a beating in the state. President S S Patil said that the state has lost around Rs 50,000 crore to other states in the past few months, thanks to the political uncertainty.