BENGALURU: Even as scores of Congress and JDS workers protested against their own legislators demanding that they withdraw their resignations, the troublesome thirteen remained stubborn. The offer of having two more Deputy Chief Ministers and cabinet berths for others did not move them.
Security had to be heightened outside the private hotel where the legislators were lodged following protests by the Congress workers. The grand old party’s attempts to reach out to them by sending envoys to pacify, cajole and plead with them to reconsider their resignation remained futile.
“Thirteen of us have submitted our resignations to the Speaker and have also informed the Governor. We all are together and united. There is no question of going back to Bengaluru, even for the legislature party meeting, or withdrawing the resignations,” S T Somashekhar, speaking for the group, told the media in Mumbai on Sunday.
The JDS, meanwhile, went into a huddle with a single-point agenda — should Kumaraswamy continue as CM or not and what the repercussions of that decision would be?
As the Karnataka coalition crisis deepens, Congressmen have pointed to the lack of decisive central leadership as one of the key reasons for the current situation while those in the JDS have criticised the Deve Gowda family’s intrusive nature and self-interest for the mess. The BJP, meanwhile, is preparing to keep its flock together to ensure its numbers remain intact while the coalition’s trickles down.