BENGALURU: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday held a closed-door meeting with Congress leaders, in a last-ditch effort to get rebel MLAs from Bengaluru to vote in favour of the government.
Congress leaders are confident that party veteran R Ramalinga Reddy will vote in favour, even as AICC leaders reached out to Roshan Baig to withdraw his resignation and support the Congress-JD(S) government in the trust vote.
Congress leader D K Shivakumar reminded the rebels of potential trouble ahead, warning them that disqualification may spoil their political prospects, and appealed to them to rethink and live up to the expectations of voters, their families and the party.
“I pray that good sense prevails over the rebel candidates,” he added.
Congress and JDS leaders, too, are reworking their strategy to drag the debate on the trust vote till Monday, as they continue to make efforts to win back the rebel MLAs.
The ruling members may take their own time to hit out at the judiciary, in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict that has come as a respite to the rebels, and exempted application of the whip to 15 rebels who filed a petition before the apex court.
Sources said the members will also deliberate on parliamentary ethics, the sanctity of the Speaker’s office and larger constitutional issues raised by Speaker Ramesh Kumar, besides the high moral standards of the House, and attempt to push the confidence vote to Monday.
State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa urged Kumaraswamy to resign before the trust vote as the government had not only received a jolt in the Supreme Court, but also lost ground morally.
BJP leaders, comfortably placed with 107 members, including two Independents, are also tracking the moves of the coalition.
The Speaker had already heard the coalition’s arguments and is bestowed with the powers to summon the rebels to present their argument, before making a final decision.
But any such attempt would lead to the fear of disqualification and put them on a shaky wicket. Ramesh Kumar has also turned down Shankar’s plea for separate seating in the assembly.
BJP leaders led by Bopaiah, Maduswamy and others appealed to the Speaker to ensure that ruling members do not waste time during the confidence vote.
Senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi are closely following the developments in Karnataka and are getting regular inputs from the state unit.
Does Congress MLA scoot from the resort?
Ahead of Thursday’s trust vote, Kagwad Congress MLA Shrimant Patil is believed to have gone missing from Windflower Prakruti resort in the city where the party MLAs are staying.
According to sources, party leaders are trying to locate the MLA, who was last seen in the resort on Wednesday evening.
CM Kumaraswamy held a meeting with Congress MLAs at the resort on Wednesday night.