Bengaluru: The State BJP is confident that along with the two independents who now support them, and the 10 Congress and JD(S)MLAs who will back the BJP in the trust vote moved by the Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in the Assembly, they will be able to bring in five to six more dissidents to topple the government.
“Another three MLAs are ready to resign in the middle of session,” a die-hard supporter of BSY told this newspaper. “We will defeat trust vote by 6 or 7 votes,” he added.
Sources close to B.S.Yeddyurappa confirmed that while they were confident that 16 MLAs have decided to abstain during the trust vote proceedings and two independent MLAs have switched support to the BJP, which adds up to a total of 18 MLAs, which gives them enough votes to defeat trust vote, a close confidante of Mr. Yeddyurappa told this newspaper that more could follow.
At present, the BJP tally stands at 107 (with the support of two independent MLAs) while the ruling party number has reduced to 101, but While eleven MLAs remain in Mumbai - one Congress MLA is in Bengaluru - on Saturday, the BJP is gloating as five rebel MLAs moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Speaker to accept their resignations .
On the day of the vote, the two independent MLAs attending the session will vote against while 15 rebel MLAs will abstain from the proceedings as they have already submitted their resignation, sources added.
Mr. Yeddyurappa has assured his party MLAs and the rebels that Mr. Kumaraswamy has no chance of retaining power even though he was making desperate attempts to save his seat through a trust vote.
“We will not allow him to seek a trust vote on Monday, we will insist the trust vote is held only after Supreme Court order,” Mr Yeddyurappa told a BJPLP meeting, sources said.
