The ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition in Karnataka is in danger of collapsing as 12 rebel MLAs from both parties tendered their resignation at the assembly speaker's office in Vidhana Soudha on Saturday.
The spate of resignations started with Congress MLA from Vijayanagar Anand Singh resigning on July 1, and was soon followed by rebel Congress MLA from Gokak Ramesh Jarkiholi faxing his resignation to the speaker's office. Speaker Ramesh Kumar acknowledged only Singh's resignation. Both resignations were dismissed as "inconsequential" by leaders of the coalition. But Saturday's development has jolted the governing alliance as they were caught unawares, even as the rebels, led by veterans like Ramalinga Reddy (Congress) and H. Vishwanath (who quit as JD(S) state president last week) marched to Vidhana Soudha to submit their resignation.
Three JD(S) MLAs—Narayan Gowda (K.R. Pet), K. Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout) and H. Vishwanath (Hunsur) and nine Congress MLAs—Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Pratapgouda Patil (Maski), B.C. Patil (Hirekerur), Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani), Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), Ramalinga Reddy (BTM layout), S.T. Somashekhar (Yeshwantpur) and Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram) and Munirathna (Rajarajeshwari Nagar) submitted their resignation.
Many of the rebel MLAs allege they have been sidelined by their party and kept out the cabinet. Interestingly, those who have chosen to finally call it a day are the ones who are confident of a comfortable win on a BJP ticket in the subsequent bypolls. A shocker has been the rebellion by Siddaramaiah's close aides Somashekhar and Basavaraj, who, like many others in the party, were furious when Kumaraswamy, during the latest cabinet expansion, chose to induct two independent MLAs.
The animosity between former chief minister Siddaramaiah and JD(S) leader H. Vishwanath (both Kuruba leaders from Mysuru) is said to be a major cause for the strain in the alliance.
With a total of 13 rebel legislators (including Anand Singh) resigning till date, the ruling coalition has been reduced to a minority government. Their only hope now is Speaker Ramesh Kumar, who holds discretionary powers to examine if the members have quit under duress.
The timing of the resignations—coming even as Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is away on a tour to the US and KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao is on a Europe tour—has raised suspicions of an alleged political coup, maneuvered by the opposition BJP, which has attempted 'Operation Kamala' ( (poaching of rebel MLAs) several times in the past.
While the total strength of the Karnataka assembly is 224, the ruling coalition held 119 (the magic number being 113). The one-year-old coalition is desperate to save itself from crumbling as the BJP can stake claim to form the government if two more legislators from the ruling alliance quit.
High drama prevailed in the secretariat building when Congress's trouble shooter D. K. Shivakumar dashed to Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru after abruptly ending a public event at his constituency (Kanakapura), in an effort to dissuade the rebels from resigning. After nearly an hour, he emerged out of the speaker's chamber along with the legislators and said all matters would be resolved at the party meeting to be held later in the evening. Interestingly, only eight MLAs went to Raj Bhavan to apprise Governor Vajubhai Vala of their decision, while four others, including senior leader Ramalinga Reddy, left the premises with Shivakumar, hinting at further negotiations. According to sources, an upset Shivakumar tore up Munirathna's acknowledgment receipt.
The ball is now in the speaker's court.
"Eleven MLAs have submitted their resignation at my office in my absence. None had taken my appointment. I have asked my secretary to issue them acknowledgment receipts. I have prior appointments on Monday. So, I will examine the resignation letters only on Tuesday," said Ramesh Kumar, who drove home after visiting an ailing relative at Jayadeva Hospital, while the legislators waited for him at his office.
Coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah, who was huddled in a long meeting with KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre and deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, said, "The speaker is yet to accept the resignations. Our government is safe." The Congress leaders are scheduled to hold a crucial meeting convened by AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal.
JD(S) patriarch H.D. Devegowda too quipped that the speaker would take "an appropriate decision".
Soon after their meeting with the governor, Vishwanath told reporters that fourteen legislators from both parties, including Anand Singh, had resigned.
"We have drawn attention of the governor. We have urged the speaker to accept our resignation letter. This sudden political coup only indicates that the coalition government has failed to fulfill the aspirations of the state. It has faltered in fulfilling people's expectations and the coalition lacks coordination," said Vishwanath.
"We have today resigned in protest against the stance and style of functioning of those running this coalition government. They have neglected the elected representatives," he elaborated.
With the speaker announcing that he would "examine" the resignation letters on Tuesday, the political drama will remain in suspended animation for the next two days. This would also mean the ruling coalition will get some more time to pacify the rebels. Fear of poaching of MLAs by both the ruling and opposition parties could once again push the elected representatives under increased surveillance by their own parties.
The upcoming assembly session, which will begin on July 12, promises to be stormy and perhaps see a change of guard too.
