Rifts within the Congress-Janata Dal Secular alliance in Karnataka, already on edge after losing a trust vote last month that handed the state to the BJP, are widening after a war of words between Congress leader Siddaramaiah and JDS veteran HD Deve Gowda. Mr Siddaramaiah today hit back at comments by the former Prime Minister in which he had blamed the Congress for causing the coalition's collapse, calling them "baseless" and "politically motivated".