Hubballi: Former minister, Basavaraj Rayareddy of the Congress was on Tuesday dismissive of any threat to the coalition government following the resignation of two of the party's MLAs.
Speaking to reporters here, he said that he was confident the Bharatiya Janata Party high command would not make its state party chief B.S. Yeddyurappa Chief Minister by indulging in horse-trading, especially when there were 12 criminal cases pending against him.
“The BJP can at the most keep the legislative assembly in suspended animation. But this would be unlawful. BJP national president Amit Shah is aware of this. Also, the BJP will not buy 14 ruling party legislators as it will need Rs 600 crore to topple the coalition government, which has 120 seats in the assembly against its 105,” he said, adding that the Congress legislators, who had resigned, could not become ministers even if they were re-elected, under the anti-defection law.
“So their resignation will not harm the coalition government,” he summed up
The resignation of the two legislators could also be declared invalid, in his view.
“They should have given their resignations to the Speaker in writing under the Karnataka Legislature Act. But Ramesh Jarkiholi faxed his resignation to him. Also, the Speaker has a month to accept the resignations. So it is wrong to say that there is an immediate threat to the coalition government,” he asserted.
While Mr Rayareddy admitted that the Congress had suffered a setback due to its alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) in the Lok Sabha elections, he said this was no reason for the party to break ties with it.
“The legislature session begins on July 12 and the opposition has the right to move a no-trust vote motion. But we cannot break our marriage and go in for a divorce just because we did not get votes in the elections. Let the relationship continue,” he added.
