Karnataka government to fall? 13 Congress-JDS MLAs submit resignation letters to Speaker
BENGALURU: In what seems to be a potential threat for HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in Karnataka, days ahead of the monsoon session, 13 disgruntled MLAs from the Congress and the JDS submitted their resignations to the Legislative Assembly speaker Ramesh Kumar on Saturday.
The MLAs who have resigned are H Vishwanath (JDs Hunsur), Mahesh Kumthalli (Congress Athani, BC Patil (Congress Hirekerur), Ramesh Jarkiholi (Congress/Gokak), Shivaram Hebbar (Congress/Yellapur), Narayana Gowda (JDs/KRPet), Gopaliah(JDS/Mahalakshmi), ST Somashekar (Congress/Yeshwantpur), Muniratna (Congress/RR Nagar), Pratap Gowda Patil(Congress/Maski) and Byrathi Basavaraj (Congress/KRPuram)
Anand Singh Congress/Vijaynagar has resigned earlier.
In addition to this is the mysterious another person at number 13 they said is Sowmya Reddy MLA Jayanagar. They said even if she was not with the group physically she was with them in spirit.
"Eleven MLAs have given resignation to my office. I will come to the office on Tuesday. I did not send them back. According to the law, we work. Sunday is off and Monday I won't be in Bangalore. Tuesday I will be there and I will look into the issue," Ramesh Kumar said.
Former JDS state president and one of the MLAs who resigned, AH Vishwanath spoke to reporters after exiting Raj Bhavan.
He said, "The government made a mistake in selecting candidates and making them ministers. All of us here are seniors and there is no operation lotus. We have resigned on our own without any pressure. We are against the government's attitude. They have ignored us. The coordination committee is only for namesake. They are not taking consideration of both the parties."
Congress MLAs Ramalinga Reddy, Pratap Gowda Patil, BC Patil, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Shivaram Hebbar, Mahesh Kumtahalli and JDS MLAs Gopalaiah, H Vishwanath and Narayan Gowda were seen outside the speaker's office, after having given their resignations.
"I have nothing against the party or our central leadership but I have time and again said there has been discrimination in the party. I am disgruntled and I am going to submit my resignation," said Ramalinga Reddy, MLA BTM.
The senior Congress leader had been miffed over not being accommodated in the coalition cabinet while his contemporaries like RV Deshpande and KJ George were given places.
Alarmed by the possibilities of mass resignations, Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar rushed to Vidhana Soudha on Saturday afternoon to meet disgruntled MLAs. Speaking to the media outside the Secretariat, Shivakumar said that he would talk to all the disgruntled MLAs and ensure nobody resigns from their post.
The coalition is currently walking on a tight rope to ensure the passage of Finance Bill.
Meanwhile, in Belagavi, four other MLAs including Khanapur MLA Anjali Nimbalkar are also expected to resign by Saturday evening.
Speaking to TNIE, Nimbalkar said she would ‘officially confirm’ her resignation by today evening. “So far, I am watching all the political developments taking place in Bengaluru. It is unfortunate that many of my colleagues submitted their resignations already. I am still undecided on what I should do at this moment. However, I will have to take a drastic step by evening today,'' she said.
The Khanapur MLA thus hinted that she is ready to quit along with many of her party MLAs.
Other MLAs from Belagavi planning to quit include Ganesh Hukkeri from Chikkodi, Shrimant Patil from Kagwad and Mahantesh Koujalgi from Bailhongal. All the three MLAs were not available for a response even as sources close to them confirmed that they are keen to quit only if it becomes clear that the coalition government will collapse.
Sources said Ramesh Jarkiholi is desperately trying to contact most party MLAs in Belagavi to put pressure on them to quit their seats. Already, he has been able to persuade Mahesh Kumathalli, his close friend and Shrimant Patil. However, Patil is still undecided although he is likely to quit, according to sources.