BJP to issue whip to MLAs, independents in Karnataka

The ruling BJP in Karnataka is issuing whip to its 116 MLAs and five independents, as the numbers game hotted up ahead of the October 11 trust vote.

"The whip will come into effect from this afternoon," chief whip DN Jeevaraj said, adding "the whip can't be violated. Everybody has to abide by the whip".

He justified issuing whip to independents who had supported the government but have now withdrawn it, saying it has been done in the past and termed them as "co-members".

The BJP has 117 members in the 225-member Assembly, which includes speaker KG Bopaiah.

As many as 19 MLAs including the independents had withdrawn support to the government earlier this week but three have already returned to the ruling camp, with the BJP confident of winning over rest of the rebels (not independents) barring three former ministers.