The spate resignations in the ruling coalition in Karnataka continued on Wednesday with two more Congress MLAs putting in their papers, deepening uncertainty about the future of the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led government.
Chikballapur MLA K. Sudhakar and Hoskote MLA and Housing Minister M.T.B. Nagaraj handed over their resignation letters to Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar, taking the number of disgruntled MLAs who quit assembly to 16.
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Sudhakar, reportedly, had not been on good terms with the government after he had been removed from the post of Pollution Control Board Chairman earlier this year.
Nagaraj, after tendering his resignation, told reporters that he was "fed up" with politics and wished to retire from public life. "I don't want any ministerial position or anything. I am fed up with politics," Nagaraj said.
The fresh resignations come amid high drama in Mumbai where Karnataka minister D.K. Shivakumar and his Congress colleagues Milind Deora and Naseem Khan were detained outside a hotel in which rebel MLAs are holed up.
Twelve MLAs—seven of the Congress, three of the JD(S) and two Independents—have been staying at a hotel in Mumbai since Saturday after resigning from the Karnataka Assembly and withdrawing support to the coalition government.
Shivakumar, the Congress' troubleshooter, had been camping outside the hotel in Powai since morning, determined to meet the rebel MLAs in a desperate bid to pull the Congress-JD(S) government from the brink of collapse.
Of the 16 MLAs who have resigned so far, 13 are from Congress and three from JD(S).
The ruling coalition faces the threat of losing its majority if the resignations of the rebel MLAs are accepted.
The coalition's total strength is 116 (Congress-78, JD(S)-37 and BSP-1), besides the speaker.
With the support of the two independents, who Monday resigned from the ministry, the BJP has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where the half-way mark is 113.
If the resignations of the 16 MLAs are accepted, the coalition's tally will be reduced to 100. The speaker also has a vote.
The Monsoon session of the Karnataka legislature would begin from July 12.
With inputs from PTI
