Karnataka: Kumaraswamy Cabinet to be ‘Restructured’ After All JD(S), Congress Ministers Resign

Meanwhile, independent MLA H Nagesh resigned on Monday and took a special flight to Mumbai to join 10 of the 13 rebel legislators.

New Delhi: In an effort to save the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government in Karnataka, all JD(S) and Congress ministers in the state tendered their resignations on Monday.

The Cabinet will now be restructured, the Chief Minister’s Office said. The move is being considered as one that will help accommodate in the cabinet all the rebel alliance MLAs who resigned in the last four days. Early on Monday, 21 of the Congress’s ministers in the state tendered their resignations. Among them were deputy chief minister G. Parameshwara.

R. Shankar, Karnataka minister and Independent MLA has also resigned from the Council of Ministers.

Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has said, after a day of meetings with both Congress and JD(S) leaders, that the issue will be resolved and the government will function smoothly.

Karnataka transport minister and party leader D.C. Thammanna had earlier said JD(S) had not given its MLAs and ministers any direction to resign. Meanwhile, Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party chief B.S. Yeddyurappa has called for Kumaraswamy’s resignation, saying that his government has “lost the confidence of the people”.

The announcement of Congress’s pyrrhic stance was made by former Karnataka chief minister and Congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah in the afternoon. Siddaramaiah had first quoted the number of resignations as “22” but then corrected himself to say “21 Congress ministers have resigned voluntarily.” In a series of tweets since making the announcement, Siddaramaiah held the BJP’s national leadership responsible for “destabilising” the coalition government and called the party a “disgrace”.

Meanwhile, dealing yet another blow to the wobbly coalition, independent MLA H Nagesh resigned in the morning and then promptly took a special flight to Mumbai to join 10 of the 13 legislators who had quit on Friday and Saturday.

Nagesh has also stated in his letter to Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala, that he is prepared to support the BJP in forming the government in the state. Congress minister D.K. Shivakumar has, however, maintained that Nagesh had called him to say that he has been hijacked by “Yeddyurappa’s personal assistant and BJP.” On Monday evening, Shivakumar left for Mumbai, ostensibly to convince the rebel MLAs to return.

According to numbers tweeted by ANI, BJP now has 105 seats in the 224-seat Karnataka assembly. Congress has 69, JD(S) 34, Bahujan Samaj Party has one and there is a lone Independent MLA.

The new numbers were reason enough for the BJP to go into a huddle to discuss its course of action in Bengaluru. BJP’s Karnataka MP Shobha Karandlaje, when reporters caught her outside Yeddyurappa’s residence, welcomed Nagesh to the fold.

“We will accept anybody into our party who is from a non-political dispensation. We’re not in touch with any rebels of the Congress and JD(S), as long as they are with their parties,” she said.

Also read: Has Congress Been Delivered a Death Blow in Karnataka?

At around the same time, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh echoed her in parliament and said that the BJP had not played any part in what was happening in the state and would never “indulge in horse trading,” reported ANI. Rajnath blamed Rahul Gandhi for the Congress ministers’ resignations, saying that he was the one who had started this “trend”.

Earlier in the day, Mavelikara Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh had moved an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha over the situation. Congress’s Bangalore Rural MP D.K. Suresh and the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury both blamed the BJP for triggering the stalemate in Karnataka.

Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha raised flags to “save democracy” over the situation in the state. As the day progressed, Congress-JD(S) workers staged protests on the streets of Bengaluru against the BJP’s efforts to lure MLAs into their fold and topple the government.

With the coalition government looking increasingly uncertain in its seat, both Congress and JD(S) have been united in criticising Governor Vala, who has been prompt in accepting the resignations.

BJP MLA M.P. Renukacharya, however, has said the Congress was deluded in blaming the governor. “They are still not able to understand that they can’t salvage the situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar sought to refute Parameshwara’s allegation that it was by his chartered flight that the rebel MLAs flew to Mumbai with the claim that the flight was a “commercial charter” which anyone could have hired.

While most of the rebel legislators remain holed up Mumbai’s Sofitel Hotel, Karnataka minister Zameer Ahmed Khan has said that at least six or seven of them are likely to return to the Congress-JD(S) fold by Monday evening. BJP leaders, contrary to the claims made by Rajnath and Karandlaje, have been reportedly guarding the coalition MLAs extremely closely in Mumbai, only allowing them to talk to family members. Congress workers in Mumbai held protests outside the hotel on Monday afternoon.

Congress MLA Soumya Reddy, who is the daughter of Ramalinga Reddy who had resigned on Saturday as Congress MLA, will reportedly attend the Congress Legislative Party meeting in Bengaluru on Tuesday, it is being reported.

Early on Monday, Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had returned to Bengaluru from a 10-day US trip and in view of the rapidly deteriorating fortunes of his government, had began holding meetings with Congress and JD(S) leaders from the airport itself.

The Congress and JD(S) government has had a tumultuous year, with several instances where it has looked distinctly threatened by MLAs quitting or threatening to quit and join the BJP. The BJP’s alleged attempts to wrest control of the state government have been dubbed ‘Operation Lotus‘ — an operation which has seemingly entered a renewed phase in the light of the recent escalation of events.

This article will be updated with the latest developments as the situation unfolds in Karnataka.