In a desperate bid to save the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka, former chief minister Siddaramaiah announced on Monday morning that 21 Congress ministers would resign from the H.D. Kumaraswamy cabinet. The statement came following two days of tension after a total of 13 Congress and JD(S) MLAs submitted their resignations.
Siddaramaiah, who is the leader of the Congress Legislature Party, announced that the “rebel” MLAs would be accommodated in the cabinet in a reshuffle. Siddaramaiah urged the rebel MLAs not to join the BJP. Siddaramaiah declared the cabinet would be reconstituted, based on “social justice and regional considerations”.
Siddaramaiah attacked the BJP for “luring” the rebel MLAs and declared the saffron party's aims to topple the Congress-JD(S) government would fail again.
Congress and JD(S) leaders held a number of meetings on Monday morning in a bid to resolve the political crisis in the state following the resignations of 13 MLAs. Earlier on Monday, H. Nagesh, an independent MLA who was a minister in the Kumaraswamy cabinet, withdrew support to the Congress-JD(S) government and announced he would be supporting the BJP.
(With inputs from Prathima Nandakumar)
