Bengaluru: Buoyed by the reported move of the rebel Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) MLAs not to participate in the crucial trust vote, State BJP President B.S. Yeddyurappa has demanded that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy must resign immediately failing which a no-confidence motion will be moved against the incumbent JD(S)-Congress coalition government on Monday.
Mr Yeddyurappa while talking to reporters in the city, said as many as 16 MLAs from the JD(S) and Congress have resigned from the Assembly, and two independent lawmakers have withdrawn their support to the coalition government. So, the government has lost its majority in the 224-member House.
Mr Kumaraswamy, instead of seeking a trust vote, must put in papers and step down, he said adding, “I will participate in the Business Advisory Committee meeting on Monday and request Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar to allow the Opposition party to move a no-confidence motion, in case the Chief Minister fails to seek a trust vote on Monday".
The BJP wants Mr Kumaraswamy to seek the trust vote on Monday itself as the Supreme Court had ordered the Speaker to maintain the status quo on the resignations of the rebels and the disqualification petition submitted by the Congress till Tuesday. After the resignations, the strength of the coalition government has come down to 101 while the BJP has 105 members plus the support of the two independent MLAs clearly giving it an advantage.
Meanwhile, sources said former minister Mr Ramalinga Reddy, who has also resigned, is not ready to disclose his course of action till his meeting with the Speaker scheduled for Monday.
Mr Yeddyurappa was active throughout the day calling on party MLAs in the wake of reports of attempts to poach on BJP lawmakers by the Congress and JD(S).
Two BJP MLAs-Mr Arvind Limbavali and Mr Balachandra Jarkiholi, who went to Delhi on Saturday to brief BJP National President and Home Minister Amit Shah about the political developments, returned on Sunday. Senior leaders have been asked to keep an eye on the MLAs to prevent them from contacting leaders of other parties.
Sowmya, Anjali to quit today?
In a related development, sources said two more Congress legislators, Sowmya Reddy and Anjali Nimbalkar are likely to resign on Monday or Tuesday. Though the duo have been claiming that they will remain in the Congress, top BJP sources told Deccan Chronicle that they will resign and join BJP. It is also learnt that Mr Amit Shah has told state BJP leaders to keep in mind the fact that if more than 20 coalition MLAs resign, it would be difficult to accommodate all of them in case the BJP forms the government.
