Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s mission to pull the coalition government out of the ongoing crisis came a cropper with housing minister M.T.B. Nagaraj and party MLA Dr K. Sudhakar quitting their membership of the Assembly while he was in the state capital on Wednesday.
Mr Azad, who rushed to Bengaluru at the behest of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, could not get former ministers R. Ramalinga Reddy and R. Roshan Baig to withdraw their resignation letters during a meeting on Tuesday night. They refused to even commit to remaining in the party, merely assuring him that they would consider his suggestion not to desert the Congress.
Mr Azad also met JD (S) president H D Deve Gowda in an effort to persuade the octogenarian not to walk out of the coalition which formed the government in May 2018 in an effort to keep BJP out. The party picked him to hold parleys with Mr Gowda as both share a good rapport.
Last year, Mr Azad and Mr Danish Ali, then national spokesman of JD (S), rushed to Bengaluru, and played a pivotal role in knitting the coalition after the Congress won 78 seats and JD (S) emerged victorious in 37 Assembly constituencies, to form the government. The BJP, which staked claim with its tally of 105 seats, had failed the floor test resulting in resignation of chief minister for a day, Mr. B S Yeddyurappa.
