BENGALURU: Saturday’s spate of resignations came as part of a ‘well planned’ coup according to insiders. However, who is responsible for the coup is a tricky question to answer.
The MLAs who submitted their resignation were in constant touch with Congress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi who travelled with them to Mumbai. Jarkiholi, a former Congress minister, is known to be very close to a senior Maharashtra BJP minister.
“He had planned the entire event, from the mass resignations to taking the MLAs to Mumbai to keep them away from being recalled by their party leaders,” said sources.
All the 10 MLAs are lodged in a star property near the CBI office in Mumbai.
On the choice of Saturday as the chosen date for the en-masse resignations, sources said that they were waiting for former JDS state president AH Vishwanath to hand over charge.
“On July 4, after the JD(S) replaced him with five-time MLA HK Kumaraswamy, the MLAs decided to submit their resignations. They were led by Vishwanath,” said a source. The MLAs met the Governor and requested him to provide them with protection.
While Jarkiholi might be taking the help of the BJP minister in Maharashtra, in Karnataka, the state unit of the party has chosen to keep its distance and is unlikely to take any followup action till July 20.
“This is because the party wants to ensure that the resignations are genuine and will be accepted,” a source said.
Additionally, the saffron party is also wary of the role Siddaramaiah has to play in the current crisis.
Some MLAs who submitted their resignation on Saturday did not join the rest in Mumbai, instead stayed back to meet or negotiate a deal with the Congress leaders in the evening.
Three of those who resigned--Byarathi Basavaraj, Somashekhar and B.C. Patil--are known Siddaramaiah loyalists, and could possibly withdraw their resignations if he is made Chief Minister.
This has given rise to speculation that the crisis could, partly, have been staged by the former CM. On the face of it, however, Siddaramaiah expressed shock at the resignations by his loyalists and was trying to reach out to them. “Last week he had to broker peace between Basavaraj and his close friend -- Minister K.J George, who had a heated argument over the transfer of a senior officer,” a source said.
“Basavraj approached the CM and got a senior officer close to the Minister, transferred without consulting him. George was miffed with Basavaraj. It had become so bad that Siddaramaiah had to intervene. Basavaraj even threatened to leave the party. It was the same issue with Somashekhar, who was miffed with an IAS officer, known to be close to the CM. Somashekhar too had threatened to resign from the party. Siddaramaiah had to cajole him to stay put,” the source added.
Whether it is cumulative problems coming to a head, providing an easy breeding ground for discontent, or a pre-planned jolt to an already shaky government, Kumaraswamy’s days as CM could be numbered.
Also because his biggest benefactor, Rahul Gandhi, has relinquished the role from which he was being given protective cover against the tug-of-war within the coalition.
Ex-JDS State Prez Blames CM
BENGALURU: Janata Dal-Secular leader A H Vishwanath who resigned as party state chief recently blamed CM H D Kumaraswamy and his attitude for the political crisis.
Vishwanath, along with other Congress and JDS MLAs who resigned on Saturday headed to Raj Bhavan to meet the Governor for a meeting which lasted almost two hours.
Speaking to reporters later, Vishwanath said, “We are hurt. We are against the coalition government. People had so much hope and expectation from this government, but it failed to fulfil them. This government also failed to take the confidence of the MLAs from both the parties.”
On Operation Kamala he said, “There is no such operation ... all these stories are cooked-up by the media. We resigned on our own,’’ he said.
When asked if they were joining the BJP, he replied in the negative.
What next?
With the monsoon session of the Assembly, where the Finance Bill will be tabled for discussion and passage, is scheduled to begin from July 12, the coalition’s primary concern is ensuring Bill’s passage to ensure its continuance. All eyes are now on Speaker Ramesh Kumar and his powers. Here are the possibilities of what could happen in the Karnataka political drama:
Speaker uses his discretion to believe resignations have been given voluntarily. This move will bring down house strength to 211. Simple majority becomes 106. The exact number of legislators that the coalition currently has. Assuming that there won’t be cross-voting, the Finance Bill could be passed but on a tight rope.
Speaker accepts resignations leading to bypolls in 13 seats. House, meanwhile, remains on a tight rope with one MLA making all the difference for BJP and coalition.
If disgruntled MLAs join BJP they could be disqualified under the anti-defection law but the impact will remain the same on the coalition as it would if they refrained from house proceedings.
If Speaker doesn’t believe that resignations have been submitted on genuine grounds, he can reject them. This scenario leads to many possibilities: A) MLAs challenge Speaker’s decision in court. But the process may be time-consuming which allows MLAs to either refrain from house proceedings or hold talks with either BJP or coalition to consider their options; B) Disgruntled MLAs refrain from house proceedings bringing down the functioning House number to 211 and simple majority to 106.