Bengaluru: In an apparent effort to placate three Congress legislators, who turned rebels along with Dr Umesh Jadhav, and ward off any threat to longevity of the coalition government headed by himself, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy met former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, B Nagendra and Mahesh Kumatalli and assured them of copious flow of funds to their constituencies on Wednesday.
Sources close to Mr Kumaraswamy said the Chief Minister took the initiative to invite these MLAs for discussions in the wake of Dr Jadhav's decision to quit the Assembly and Congress and join the BJP at a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kalaburagi on Wednesday. He felt the need to prevent more desertions as such moves would rock his government ahead of forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
These legislators, along with Dr Jadhav, were incommunicado for a couple of weeks, prompting CLP leader Siddaramaiah to issue notices to them and later submit a complaint for disqualification to Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar.
These legislators skipped almost the entire budget session of legislature to vent their ire against top Congress leaders and triggered speculation as well that they could jump ship ahead of Lok Sabha polls to join the BJP.
Soon after the meeting, Mr Jarkiholi told the media that he had established a very good rapport with all JD (S) leaders, and met the CM to discuss about developmental projects in his constituency. He also ruled out joining the BJP.
The CM reportedly promised to release funds for development of constituencies represented by these legislators and advised them not to take any decision in haste.
Mr Nagendra said he did not have plans of joining the BJP and his meeting with Mr Kumaraswamy pertained to development of Ballari district.
