On a day of swift political developments, the crisis deepened on Monday as two more Independent MLAs — H Nagesh and R Shankar — resigned from the ministry and withdrawing their support to the coalition. This added up to the previous number of 13 MLAs who had already resigned on Saturday. All the fifteen MLAs who were camping in a hotel in Mumbai, were shifted to Goa last evening.
After the scene of action on the fate of the Kumaraswamy-led regime shifted to the coastal state, the Speaker Ramesh Kumar will today take a final decision on whether the resignations submitted by 15 Congress-JD(S) legislators will be accepeted or not. Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress' legal department has petitioned the Speaker, requesting him not to accept resignations, alleging that rules have not been followed during its submission.
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The Congress is also trying to work out a solution to save its government as differences between senior party leader Siddaramaiah and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy have widened on who will lead the coalition in the southern state. Most of the Congress rebels are Siddaramaiah loyalists, but Kumaraswamy has put his foot down against making him the Chief Minister.
Karnataka Congress has also accused the BJP of being behind the resignation of the MLAs and demanded to know how much money was being spent on the legislators, as it alleged that state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappas Personal Assistant was seen along with them. In the wake of which, the Indian Youth Congress will hold a protest march against horse trading resorted to by BJP to topple the coalition government in the state.
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However, earlier on Monday, the Karnataka political crisis echoed in the Parliament where the government denied any role in the turmoil.
(With inputs from agencies)