The Congress- JD(S) coalition had 118 members in the 224-seat state assembly, besides the support of one BSP and one Independent
The top leadership of the Congress and the JD(S) launched a massive last-ditch effort on Sunday to save their coalition government in Karnataka on Sunday after 13 of their legislators reportedly resigned as MLAs.
Cutting short his US visit, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy rushed back to Bangalore on Sunday evening even as Congress state in-charge KC Venugopal got into a huddle with senior party leaders Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar and G Parameshwara to find ways to avert the crisis.
Venugopal also met senior dissident Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy to pacify him. But till reports reached last, Reddy was adamant on his resignation. He expressed gross displeasure for being ignored and dumped for ministerial post. Reddy is said to have the support of five to six rebel MLAs.
On Sunday, veteran trouble-shooter of the Congress, DK Shivakumar, met JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda. According to sources, both leaders discussed if the dissidents can be brought back, offering ministerial berths. A proposal was then sent to the Congress dissidents with offer of ministerial berth/s.
Deve Gowda also called a legislative party meeting in the evening to discuss all thorny issues, in the presence of Kumaraswamy.
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 Raj Bhavan. Another Congress MLA, Anand Singh, had submitted his resignation on July 1 itself.
The Congress- JD(S) coalition had 118 members in the 224-seat state assembly, besides the support of one BSP and one Independent. Defections can bring the numbers down to 105, reducing the majority mark in the assembly from 113 to 106. The BJP also has 105 members.
Some of the rebel legislators are in Mumbai. The Congress and the JD(S) have alleged that the BJP has operationalised Operation Kamala and used a BJP MP's chartered plane to whisk away their MLAs to Mumbai to strike a deal with them. The BJP leadership — BS Yeddyurappa and GVL Narasimha Rao — have dismissed the allegations as "utter nonsense".
There is a big question mark whether the troubling shooting efforts would bear any fruit as the crisis has several stakeholders with each wanting to have its own pound of flesh at the cost of others. The key players involved in the political imbroglio are Siddaramaiah and Ramalinga Reddy from Congress and H Vishwanath from JD(S).
There are some feelers that to avert the crisis, some ministers have agreed to step down to accommodate the dissidents. No reply has come so far from the dissidents on the offer given by Congress.
Speaker Ramesh Kumar has decided to verify all resignations on Tuesday thereby giving coalition partners one more day to control the damage and stop the government from falling. There is possibility that some more MLAs might tender the resignation, sources say.
Sensing a comeback, BJP state unit chief and former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa said, "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."
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "HD Kumaraswamy")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}