Karnataka government crisis continues to haunt both the JDS and Congress. However, an unexpected major twist may bring an end to this high voltage drama that is plaguing both the parties. The trouble-shooter from Congress and senior minister DK Shivakumar who has been playing a key role in the negotiation of MLAs said that the party of the current CM HD Kumaraswamy is ready to step down.
JDS Ready For ‘Big’ Sacrifice
According to Shivakumar, for the sake of coalition, JDS is ready to accept a Congress CM on a condition that either Siddaramaiah, G Parmeshwara or Shivkumar himself takes the charge as chief minister. Shivakumar stated, “The Janata Dal-Secular has informed that they are ready to sacrifice to save the coalition. JDS has told us that Siddaramaiah, G Parameshwara or myself can be the CM. They have conveyed this to the Congress High Command as well.”
He further added that JDS has conveyed its decision to the Congress and now it is up to the party head to decide who will replace Kumaraswamy. However, all these reports were refuted by Dinesh Gundu Rao, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president who said that they were all ready for the floor test.
Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “We are going in for the trust motion with a lot of confidence. We are sure to win and expose the BJP on the floor of the house. Neither there is any such proposal (as claimed by Shivakumar) not are we thinking of something like this.”
An Uphill Task Of Passing Floor Test
The Karnataka government crisis started when 16 MLAs from the coalition- 13 from the Congress party and 3 from the JDS resigned almost 15 days ago. Similarly, two independent MLA H Nagesh and R Shankar had withdrawn their support putting the government into crisis. Later on one member from the Congress party, Ramalinga Reddy retracted and announced his support to the government.
At present, the combined strength of the ruling party is 117-Congress 78, JD(S) 37, BSP 1, nominated 1 and the speaker. On the other hand, the BJP has 107 MLAs on its side including support from two independents in the house of 225-members.
The crisis has deepened further for the coalition government in Karnataka as the rebel MLAs have refused bluntly to compromise despite a repeated appeal from the CM. These rebel MLAs also rejected the allegations that they were being held captive. One of the rebels from JD (S) MLA K Gopalaiah in a video said, “We thought this government will do good to the state but it did not happen. There is no question of our attending the assembly session tomorrow.” The video also includes 10 other rebel legislators.
The 15 rebel MLAs from Karnataka Congress and the JD (S) along with the 2 Independents filed a joint petition in the apex court on Sunday requesting direction to KR Ramesh Kumar, the Assembly Speaker and Chief Minister of Karnataka to hold the vote of trust by 5 pm on Monday.
