The political crisis in Karnataka continued on Saturday, with Bharatiya Janata Party dissidents reportedly dumping their leader and Minister for Excise M.P. Renukacharya, and remaining firm in their stand against the B.S.Yeddyurappa government.
Sources in the BJP indicated to The Hindu that the negotiations with the dissident MLAs, staying in Goa, had been abandoned and one of the key negotiators for the party and Tourism Minister G. Janardhana Reddy had also moved out of Goa. The BJP dissidents, whose number has now reportedly swelled to 15 (along with independents, it will be 20), are also flying out of Goa. They will be in Chennai for the next one day.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and R.V. Deshpande, followed by M.C. Nanaiah of the Janata Dal (Secular), called on Governor H.R. Bhardwaj to express their resentment at Speaker K.G. Bopaiah serving a show-cause notice on 11 BJP legislators and directing them to appear before him to offer an explanation on October 10, a day ahead of the trust vote. They impressed on Mr. Bhardwaj the need for his intervention as any violation of the anti-defection law could arise only on two counts: if a legislator voluntarily quits a party on whose ticket he was elected; and, if a legislator votes against the party whip during the trust vote.
The Governor is stated to have told them that he would intervene at the right time.
BJP leaders are talking to legal experts on whether the 11 legislators who, along with four others indulged in serious disruption during the election of the Speaker, can be disqualified from membership of the House at the present juncture.
The BJP's strength in the 225-member Assembly is stated to be more or less equal to or slightly less than that of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) put together. The BJP leadership, however, continues to exude confidence that the Yeddyurappa government will comfortably win the trust vote.
