Eleven MLAs of the ruling coalition in Karnataka submitted their resignations to the office of Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, Media reported. If the resignations of the eight Congress MLAs and three Janata Dal (Secular) MLAs are accepted, the coalition would be left with the support of 107 members – just enough to maintain a majority.
Speaker Ramesh Kumar told Media that he had asked his office to take the resignations for the time being and he would be able to proceed on the matter only on Monday.
Karnataka elects members for 224 Assembly seats. Congress MLA Anand Singh resigned on 1st July. If the Speaker accepts 11 more resignations, the strength will come down to 212 and the majority mark to 107. The Congress will be reduced to 70 MLAs and the JD(S) to 34. With the support of one Bahujan Samaj Party MLA and two independent members, the ruling coalition would then have just two members more than the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Despite being the single-largest party with 105 members, the BJP had been unable to form the government in May 2018 after the Congress and the JD(S) stitched a post-poll alliance.
Congress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi had also submitted his resignation earlier this week, but it was not accepted as he reportedly sent it by fax. He is one of the 11 MLAs who submitted their resignations at the Speaker’s office.
Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and minister DK Shivakumar will hold an emergency meeting later in the day, according to ANI. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is abroad and will reportedly return only on Monday.
On 1st July, two Congress MLAs Anand Singh and Ramesh Jarkiholi had resigned from the state Assembly. The coalition was left with the support of 117 members-before the developments. The Bharatiya Janata Party has 105 members, while the majority mark is 113.
In the past year, leaders from both the Congress and JD(S) have expressed their dissatisfaction at the way the coalition has functioned.
Major crisis in Karnataka: Congress-JDS 11 MLAs resign
