Karnataka ministers quit for rebels; big day today

The fate of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka, that looks almost sealed, have put the focus on Speaker of the assembly, Ramesh Kumar, who is expected to take a final call on the resignation letters of the rebel MLAs on Tuesday.

Amid the fast-changing scenario, all the ministers quit on Monday to give a free hand to Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy to reshuffle his Cabinet to include rebel MLAs while two Independents too withdrew support.

The Congress legal department, meanwhile, petitioned the Speaker not to accept resignations of 13 Congress-JD(S) legislators as they did not follow the rules. It also requested the Speaker to take a final decision only after holding separate inquiry with MLAs and hold hearings to gather public opinion of the constituency they represent.

"They have to submit the resignations to you (Speaker) in person," pointed out CM Dhananjaya, chairman of the KPCC legal department, in a letter, further alleging that the legislators did not resign "voluntarily".

The move is being seen as a last-ditch effort by the coalition government to gain time and persuade the rebels.

There was no immediate word from the rebel camp on the move to reshuffle the Cabinet in a bid to save the wobbly 13-month-old government.

However, the departure of Independent MLAs, H Nagesh and R Shankar — who were made ministers less than a month ago in a bid to give stability to the government — and suspended Congress MLA Roshan Baig to BJP made it all the more difficult for the Kumaraswamy government to arrest the riot.