Undeterred by their suspension from the Janata Dal (Secular), rebel MLAs said they were still loyal to the party and claimed they had not received any show-cause notice.
“We are still part of the party and have not received any notice,” said H.C. Balakrishna, Magadi MLA.
Stating that they were pushed to the brink to exercise their franchise in favour of Congress, Nagamangala MLA N. Chaluvarayaswamy said that rebel MLAs were ready to face any consequence and it was up to the JD(S) to decide on whether to retain them or expel them from the party.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, six legislators, except Gangavathi MLA Iqbal Ansari and Chamarajpet MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan, who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls, aired their differences with the party leaders. They even accused the party of taking unilateral decisions without consulting them and charged that they were sidelined in their own constituencies.
Blaming party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for the present crisis in the party, the legislators alleged that the difference and lack of understanding between father and son had pushed the party to series of problems.
Cautioning the leadership against instigating workers in their constituencies and humiliating them through various forms of protests, they said this would force them to “bare it all” before the public, which would be difficult for the leaders to digest.
They even sought an explanation from Mr. Gowda on exonerating Mr. Kumaraswamy, when he violated the party whip to join hands with BJP in 2006.
