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The ruling Janata Dal Secular (JD-S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka is making a last-ditch effort to save itself after 12 Congress legislators submitted their resignation to the Assembly Speaker on Saturday.
The Congress, in an effort to sort out differences in the party, has called its Legislature Party meeting on Tuesday at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, while the JD(S) held a series of meetings under its party supremo and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.
The JD(S)-Congress coalition government faces a crisis, as disgruntled MLAs – three from JD(S) and nine from the Congress – tendered their resignation letters to the Assembly Speaker’s office on Saturday. This sudden development comes just days ahead of the Monsoon Session of the Karnataka Legislature (July 12).
The JD(S) and Congress leaders on Sunday were seen persuading the rebel legislators to take back their resignation letters.
AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka, K C Venugopal, rushed to Bengaluru to save the government. He was disappointed as a meeting with the rebel MLAs which was slated for Sunday was cancelled as most of them were away in Mumbai.
“The BJP is doing it. It’s their money and power that is responsible for the present turmoil. The BJP is luring the MLAs to join their fold. They are offering money to the MLAs and are exploiting their displeasure over denial of ministerial post,” said former chief minister and Congress Legislative Party leader Siddaramaiah.
Former Union minister Mallikarjun Kharge too blamed the BJP. “The Centre is directly involved in the turmoil. BJP is trying to kill the democracy. The Congress will not tolerate it.”
BJP denies involvement
The BJP, which has been accused of trying to destabilise the Karnataka government by triggering ‘Operation Lotus’, has denied the allegations.
BJP General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao dubbed the allegations levelled by Congress and JD(S) leaders as baseless. “This is nonsense. It’s a baseless allegation. By making allegations against another party that has nothing to do with the internal affairs of Congress, they’re not going to gain anything,” he said.
State BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa said, “The BJP is in no way involved in the rebellion being faced by the coalition government. We are watching from the sidelines, as the collapse of this government is imminent.”
He further said the BJP would stake a claim for forming the next government if the JD(S)-Congress government falls due to its ‘own contradictions’. Yeddyurappa said: “ People are not ready for the elections. Elections are a burden on State exchequer. Being a team of 105 members in the Assembly and as a responsible national political party, we have responsibility to find a solution to present political problems.”
For its survival, JD(S)-Congress coalition is contemplating making former chief minister Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister for the second time and PWD Minister H D Revanna (brother of Kumaraswamy) as the Deputy Chief Minister. It is also considering making Mallikarjuna Kharge the next Chief Minister.
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