Bengaluru: The JD(S)-Congress government in Karnataka plunged into a crisis on Saturday, with 13 MLAs of the alliance submitting their resignation to the Speaker.
The Congress accused the BJP of trying to topple the coalition government by “buying” MLAs, but the BJP dismissed the charge saying it had nothing to do with the resignations and the internal feud between the ruling allies was responsible for the political instability in the state.
The troubled ruling coalition, which has a strength of 118 in the 224-member Assembly, faces the risk of losing majority if the resignations are accepted.
Nine MLAs of the Congress and three of the JD(S) reached the Speaker’s office to put in their papers on Saturday, and later met Governor Vajubhai Vala at the Raj Bhavan.
Rebel JD(S) MLA AH Vishwanath told reporters that “14 MLAs from Congress and JD(S) have resigned”, but the Assembly secretariat sources said that 13 legislators had put in their papers including Vijayanagara MLA Anand Singh who had submitted his resignation to the Speaker’s office earlier in the week.
Both the JD(S) and the Congress have been plagued by dissension over allocation of ministerial berths and distribution of Lok Sabha seats.
The cracks became deeper after the BJP swept the Lok Sabha polls in the state.
Flanked by other rebel MLAs, JD(S) legislator A H Vishwanath told reporters after meeting the Governor that “14 MLAs from Congress and JD(S), including Anand Singh, have submitted resignation from the Assembly to the Speaker.”
“The government failed to coordinate with the MLAs and take them along. It has also failed to live up to the expectations of the people,” he said.
On the charge that the BJP was trying to poach MLAs to destabilise the government through “Operation Lotus (BJP’s poll symbol)”, he said it is “a figment of your imagination”.
“There is no BJP angle to it. We are all seniors. No operation can happen. We are resigning voluntarily against the apathy of the government,” he said.
The BJP has 105 MLAs in the House. The MLAs, who submitted resignation to Speaker’s office Saturday include Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Pratap Gowda Patil (Maski), Shivram Hebbar (Yellapur), Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani), BC Patil (Hirekerur), Byrati Basavaraj (K R Puram), S T Soma Shekar (Yashwanthpur) and Ramalinga Reddy (BTM Layout) of the Congress. The JD(S) MLAs are A H Vishwanath (Hunsur), who recently resigned as the party’s state chief, Narayana Gowda (K R Pet), and Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout).
Later, Congress MLA Munirathna (Rajarajeshwari Nagar) put in his papers, the Assembly secretariat sources said.
Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala attacked the BJP, saying “the new word for ‘aaya ram gaya ram’ is MODI — mischievously orchestrated defections in India”.
“The Karnataka government which is a joint government having complete majority is now being sought to be pulled down by defections and resignations,” he said. (PTI)
