Hours after two of their MLAs resigned from membership to the State Legislative Assembly, several senior Congress leaders huddled at the residence of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to take stock of the situation and chalk out a strategy to keep the party’s flock together.
It is believed that some senior leaders will be asked to step aside to accommodate the dissident legislators.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dinesh Gundu Rao, Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, and some MLAs held discussions with Mr. Siddaramaiah on the various options, including reshuffling of Ministry, for preventing the disgruntled MLAs from quitting.
Plans are afoot to reshuffle the Ministry soon after Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy returns from his U.S. trip and before the extended budget session of the legislature begins on July 12, sources said. The senior leaders discussed a list of probable MLAs who are likely to quit the party and the BJP’s game plan to topple the coalition government.
With no clarity on the number of Congress and JD(S) legislators, who might quit their membership to the Assembly, sources indicated that the Congress was firm on keeping the government afloat for at least another few months, though a few former MPs have opposed continuation of the alliance after the Lok Sabha rout in the State.
The coalition parties may even go to the extent of poaching a couple of BJP legislators to teach a fitting lesson to the saffron party and refrain it from indulging in ‘Operation Lotus’.
Proving majority
As a couple of MLAs are expected to resign in the next few days, the BJP has plans to embarrass the coalition government by asking the Chief Minister to prove majority in the House during the extended session of the State legislature.
The Congress is expected to call its legislators’ party meeting soon. A few legislators, including suspended MLA Roshan Baig, skipped the CLP meeting held a few days ago at Hotel Lalit Ahok.
Fence sitters
Nearly a dozen Congress legislators such as B.C. Patil, Mahesh Kumatahalli, B. Nagendra, and Basanagouda Daddal are apparently calculating the risks and benefits of deserting the Congress. They apparently lost hopes of becoming Ministers after the last month’s Cabinet expansion.
Moreover, these MLAs had expressed their disappointment over inducting Independent MLAs into the Cabinet by the Congress.
