In a counter-move to the BJP’s effort to “poach” its disgruntled MLAs, at least five Congress Ministers have reportedly expressed their willingness to give up their ministerial postings to accommodate dissident MLAs in the Cabinet.
This strategy is being worked out even as at least three disgruntled Congress MLAs — Anand Singh, Shrimanth Patil and Bheema Naik — earlier identified to be with the BJP, reappeared to announce that they had no plans of defecting. Meanwhile, two Independent MLAs, who had announced their withdrawal of support to the coalition government, did not go ahead with their plan to meet the Governor on Wednesday. These developments significantly toned down the threat to the coalition government.
Five Ministers — D.K. Shivakumar, K.J. George, Priyank Kharge, Zameeer Ahmed Khan, and Krishna Byre Gowda — are learnt to have expressed their willingness to surrender their Cabinet berths to make way for rebel legislators.
They made their statements on voluntarily stepping down during a breakfast meeting of the Congress Ministers and leaders, sources said. The party is holding a meeting of its legislators on Friday to work out a strategy to douse dissidence.
Meanwhile, all senior Congress leaders and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy exuded confidence that the coalition government faced no threat and the political drama had, in fact, fizzled out with the return of the disgruntled MLAs back to the party fold. “I know my strength and my government is like a solid rock,” said the Chief Minister.
KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao said the government was stable and no legislators from the Congress would desert the party and join the BJP. On Wednesday, he slammed the BJP for its “brazen attempt” to destabilise the party’s coalition government with JD(S). The BJP’s MLAs have been camping at a resort in Haryana in an “effort to thwart any poaching attempt” by the ruling JD-S- Congress coalition.
“The topic for media discussion should not be the stability of the government, but what the BJP has been reduced to under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah. The BJP today has become an anti-constitutional party” he said.
Allaying fears over the stability of the Congress-JD(S) dispensation, Mr. Rao said, “All our MLAs are intact and nobody is going anywhere. They are all with us together.”
Meanwhile, D.K. Suresh, MP of Bengaluru Rural, asserted that “all is well in the coalition government and it will complete full term. In case the the coalition government falls, the party is ready to face the election again and the party is confident of coming back to power”.
Asked about disgruntled legislators, the MP said a few party MLAs were unhappy for not getting ministerial berths. “But the senior leaders in the party are ready to make the sacrifice to keep the party together, ” he said.
Replying to a question on two Independent legislators withdrawing support to the government, Minister for Environment and Forests Satish Jarkiholi said, “They are like extra players in a cricket team.”
When he was asked about his brother and former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi’s role in the dissident activities, Mr. Satish Jarkiholi said, “There is no official confirmation about quitting the party from anyone, so let’s not jump to any conclusions until they come out to tell.”
