BENGALURU: As fresh trouble has gripped the ruling Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition with the resignation of 11 lawmakers, senior BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa on Sunday said he is not related to the developments in any way.
"Let's wait and watch. Are we sanyasis (hermits)? After the resignation process is over and the speaker takes his decision, leaders of our party will discuss and decide," he said in response to a question whether the BJP was preparing to form the government.
Speaking to reporters in Tumkur, the former chief minister said, "Ours is a national party, after discussing with the national leadership, we will take a decision." Asked whether the coalition government will collapse, he repeated, "Let's wait and watch".
Stating he was not in a position to say anything about the survival of the government, Yeddyurappa said everything depends on the Speaker.
"From July 12, assembly session has been convened, the chief minister is abroad. According to me, the coalition government has lost majority and it is the opinion expressed in all leading papers. This is the reality; a decision has to be taken by the speaker and the chief minister," he said.
Responding to a question, he said there were reports that more MLAs may resign.
Grappling with the crumbling coalition, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, on the other hand, responded to the resignation of party strongman Ramalinga Reddy stating that his grievances will be looked into.
Kharge said that he wants the alliance to run smoothly in the state. On being asked about are reports about the possibility of him being made the state's chief minister, Kharge said, "I do not know. I want this alliance government to continue. We want that this should go on smoothly. These are all flimsy information being fed to the press just to divide us."
Responding to Ramalinga Reddy's resignation, he said, "Ramalinga Reddy ji is a senior leader and a Congressman. For long he has been holding Congress's fort in Bengaluru. Let us see what are his grievances and what we can do."
The 13 month-old Karnataka coalition government of JD(S) and Congress slumped into crisis following the resignation of their 11 MLAs from the membership of the state Assembly on Saturday.
JD(S) MLA H Vishwanath had on Saturday said that 14 MLAs have jointly tendered their resignations to Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar and requested him to accept them. But, the Speaker has not yet accepted their resignations.
With the dramatic turn of events, the state government appears to have fallen into a minority forcing Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, who is in the US, to cut short his visit. He is expected to fly back here today.
Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah late on Saturday evening held a meeting with the party MLAs where he is believed to have discussed among other things the current political situation in the state. The meeting took place at his house.
The strength of the ruling coalition in Karnataka has come down to 105, which is eight short of the half-way mark of 113. Congress MLAs Anand Singh and Ramesh Jarkiholi resigned from the government earlier this week.
Those MLAs, who resigned from the Assembly, include BC Patil, H Vishwanath, Narayan Gowda, S Hebbar, Mahesh Kumatalli, Gopalayya, Ramesh Jharkiholi, and Pratap Gowda Patil. The dissident MLAs late on Saturday arrived in Mumbai and are staying at a hotel.