The General Election result was a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which won 25 out of the 28 seats.
The Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress coalition government in Karnataka plunged into a crisis after its 12 MLAs submitted their resignation on Saturday. In all, 13 lawmakers have put in their papers in the past week, seriously threatening the existence of the 13-month-old government.
Among those who offered to quit is Ramalinga Reddy, a former minister and a long-time Congress loyalist, who had on multiple occasions expressed unhappiness over not being given a cabinet berth.
"I have nothing against the Congress. I have nothing against our leaders in Delhi. I am just saddened that I have been sidelined. But I won't blame anyone. I am going to resign now," said Reddy before entering the Speaker's chamber.
However, the unavailability of the Speaker at his chamber till Tuesday has given the coalition two days to explore its options. Acting instantly was famed troubleshooter DK Shivakumar who cut short his engagements for the day and rushed to convince the rebel MLAs otherwise.
Though he whisked away four MLAs – he is said to have torn one lawmaker's resignation letter – he hardly succeeded in persuading them to withdraw the decision, said sources. Three of the MLAs are believed to be close to former CM Siddaramaiah.
Siddaramaiah who was the head of the coordination committee for the coalition government had been accused of encouraging dissent. In a meeting post the Lok Sabha poll debacle, he is said to have advised Rahul Gandhi to pull out of the government in the state.
JD(S) MLA H Vishwanath who also resigned on Saturday was a bitter opponent of Siddaramaiah, accusing him of failing to run the committee in an undemocratic manner.
But it was not just infighting and dissidence that has led the coalition to this mess of a situation. After multiple failed attempts to topple the government, the BJP has tactically used its forces this time around.
The General Election result was a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which won 25 out of the 28 seats.
The turn of events in the past week shows that BJP leaders at the state and central levels engineered the crisis for the HD Kumaraswamy government.
In the 225 member assembly, the coalition has 118 members, with 113 being the magic number. Of the 118, 79 MLAs are from the Congress, 37 from the JD(S) and two Independents who were recently inducted into the party. If the 13 resignations are accepted, then the house strength comes down to 211, making 106 the half-way mark. This means both the coalition and BJP stand at 105 MLAs each (apart from one MLA from the BSP). For the BJP to effectively stake claim to the government, it will require the House numbers to drop down to 208, putting the party in a comfortable majority.
Zee Media Newsroom
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