The Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and Congress government in Karnataka is staring into an uncertain future as three Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and eight Congress legislators on Saturday resigned from their respective Assembly segments, sources said.
“As Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar was not in the office, the eight legislators submitted their resignation letters in Kannada to his personal assistant,” a senior Congress official told IANS in Bengaluru.
The three JD-S MLAs who have submitted their resignations are AH Vishwanath (Hunsur), N Narayana Gowda (KR Pete) and Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmim in Bengaluru northwest) while the eight Congress MLAs who have resigned are Pratapgauda Patil (Maski), B.C. Patil (Hirekerur), Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Shivram Hebbar (Yellapur) and Mahesh Kumatahalli (Athani), Ramalinga Reddy (BTM Layout), S.T Somashekar (Yeshvantpur) and S.N. Subba Reddy (KGF in Kolar).
Jarkiholi had resigned on July 1 but his resignation was not accepted by the Speaker as it was faxed to his office, which is against the procedure.
Anand Singh had personally handed over his resignation letter to the Speaker on July 1 and it was acknowledged.
Also, senior Congress legislator Ramalinga Reddy told reporters in Bengaluru that he had also decided to resign from the party. Reddy, a seven-time lawmaker from BTM Layout Assembly segment in Bengaluru South, was a Cabinet minister in the previous Congress government.
“I have decided to resign from the Congress, with which I have been associated for over four decades, as there is no respect or value for senior leaders in the party,” Reddy told reporters outside the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.
The legislators could not meet the Speaker in his office hence they went to the Raj Bhavan to apprise Governor Vajubhai Vala of their decision to resign.
According to sources, four more Congress legislators, including Reddy’s daughter Soumya from Jayanagar in Bengaluru South, Somashekar from Yeshvantpur in Bengaluru North, Byarti Basavaraj from KR Puram in Bengaluru East, and Munirathna from RR Nagar in Bengaluru West are also reportedly mulling to resign.
In the 225-member Karnataka Assembly, including one nominated, the Congress has 79 excluding the Speaker, JD-S 37 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 105.
With the support of three other members, including one each from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) (a regional outfit) and an Independent, the ruling alliance has 118, 5 more than the halfway mark of 113, required for a simple majority.
(With IANS inputs)