Karnataka Crisis: Governors Side With Defectors & Help Them Come Out of Congress, Says Ghulam Nabi Azad

The 13-month old Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka is faced with a serious crisis after the resignation of 13 Congress MLAs from the membership of the state Assembly on Saturday.

Updated: July 9, 2019 10:24 PM IST

By India.com News Desk | Edited by Surabhi Shaurya

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New Delhi: As the Karnataka political crisis entered its fourth day, all eyes were set on the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting which took place at the Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday. The CLP meeting convened by former CM Siddaramaiah provided a clear picture to the JD(S)-Congress coalition leaders. Congress leader KC Venugopal and Dinesh Gundu Rao were also present in the meeting.

According to the party circular, all Congress MLAs were asked to attend the meeting. The grand old party had said that strict action will be taken against MLAs who miss the meeting.

Besides CLP meeting, the rebel Congress MLAs, who resigned on Saturday, were likely to fly back to Bengaluru to meet the Speaker and insist on their resignations being accepted. Reports claimed that they have ruled out changing their decision to quit.

Earlier on Monday, two Independent MLAs had resigned from the HD Kumaraswamy Cabinet and extended support to the BJP, reducing the Karnataka coalition government to a minority.

In a bid to save the 13-month-old Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka,  the two parties later asked all their ministers to resign to pave the way for reconstitution of the Cabinet to accommodate the disgruntled and rebel MLAs. All 22 Congress and 9 JD(S) ministers submitted their resignations.

“Our ministers have voluntarily resigned to help save the government. We will try to accommodate those MLAs who have resigned & interested to be the ministers. We will reshuffle the Cabinet keeping regional aspirations & social obligations in mind. I, on behalf of Congress party, request all those who have resigned to reconsider their decision & strengthen our government.”

The Chief Minister’s Office, in an official statement also said a Cabinet reshuffle would happen soon. CM Kumaraswamy, who returned from his 10-day long US trip Sunday, assured his government would survive and that there was no need to worry.

Rajeev Gowda, a state Congress leader from Karnataka, claimed that UPA Chairperson and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had said she is ‘very very confident’ that things will be back to normal in a couple of days.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, on the other hand, said that it had the numbers to stake a claim to the government.“Two Independent MLAs met the Governor and gave the letter that they’ll support BJP, now we’re 105 + 2 = 107. Even when they’ve lost the majority, Kumaraswamy is speaking like that, people are observing everything. Let us see & wait.”

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