Karnataka political crisis: JD(S), Congress regroup as coalition partners accuse BJP of horse-trading; HD Kumaraswamy to chair legislative meeting

The political crisis in Karnataka , set into motion by the resignations of at least 13 MLAs on Saturday, continued for the second day on Sunday as coalition partners Congress and JD(S) scrambled to pacify the dissenters and bring stability to the government.

Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy is likely to chair a legislative meeting of the JD(S) on Sunday evening after he cut short a visit to the US as the crisis unfolded.

Senior leaders like Congress’ DK Shivakumar and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda held meetings to arrive at a resolution amid accusations of horse-trading against the BJP. Gowda was quoted by India Today questioning the “mass resignations”. “Was there external pressure for mass resignations?” he reportedly asked.

Meanwhile, former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah claimed that the BJP was “behind” the defections, but reiterated that the government was stable.

“This clearly shows that BJP is behind all these defections. It is ‘ Operation Kamala ’… Everything is fine. Don’t worry. The government will survive, there is no threat to the government,” he said, adding, “I am in touch with 5-6 MLAs. I can’t reveal all the details. Everybody is loyal to the party. It is not a question of a person being loyal to me. Everybody is expected to be loyal to the party.”

However, BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa distanced himself from the controversy and said that he was “not related” to the issue “in any way”. “I am going to Tumkur and I will come back at 4 pm. You know about the political developments. Let’s wait and see. I do not want to answer to what HD Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah say. I am nowhere related to this,” Yeddyurappa said to reporters on Sunday.

Reportedly, one of the main setbacks for the coalition is the resignation of senior Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy. Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said that Reddy’s “grievances will be looked into.” He also refuted claims of him being appointed as the chief minister and said that he wanted the coalition to “run smoothly” in the state. He said, “Ramalinga Reddy ji is a senior leader and a Congressman. For long he has been holding Congress’s fort in Bengaluru. Let us see what are his grievances and what we can do.”

The dissenting MLAs were flown to Mumbai on Saturday evening, where they have been accommodated at the Sofitel Hotel. On Sunday morning, BJP MLC  Prasad Lad was spotted outside the hotel, further fueling speculations at the BJP was intending to capitalise on the crisis. However, Yeddyurappa was quoted by News18 as saying that the BJP “will not” make a move to stake a claim before the Karnataka governor. “We will wait and watch the developments that are unfolding,” he said.

While Congress and JD(S) leaders made efforts to bring the situation under control, Congress workers staged a protest outside the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee office in Bengaluru, demanding that the dissenting MLAs take back their resignations. Some members of the party also protested against the BJP outside the hotel in Mumbai, reports said . Congress workers were seen holding placards and flags outside the party office as they raised slogans.

On the other hand, the coalition partners are facing criticism from party members as well as the BJP. While senior state Congress leaders including deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, home minister MB Patil, former chief minister Siddaramaiah, HK Patil, KC Venugopal, and Mallikarjun Kharge met to discuss the prevailing political situation, Union ministers Prahlad Joshi and Prakash Javadekar levelled criticism at the coalition government.

Joshi reacted to the Congress’ allegations of horse-trading against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and termed them"utter nonsense". He also said that former chief minister Siddaramaiah is “plotting the drama”. “This is basically an unholy alliance and Mr Siddaramaiah is behind it and the Congress party is planning to throw out HD Kumaraswamy by plotting all this drama,” Joshi said.

Echoing similar sentiments, BJP leader from the state, Basavaraj Ingin, also alleged Siddaramaiah is “greedy” and wants to become the chief minister. “In Karnataka, alliance government is changing day in and day out. It is revealed unchallengeable that former chief minister Siddaramaiah is behind the drama staged in Karnataka politics. His intention is to unseat Kumaraswamy and take over as the chief minister of Karnataka. He is blaming BJP for having created this scene, though, he is greedy and wants to be the chief minister,” said Ingin.

Javadekar also hit out at Congress saying their MLAs are resigning as they are losing the plot because of their inactivity. Speaking at the BJP’s membership drive in Tirupati on Saturday, Javadekar said, “Congress MLAs are resigning in Karnataka. Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Bhaskar Rao joined BJP on Saturday. The whole atmosphere is in favour of BJP and the Opposition is losing the plot because they are inactive.”

“After the Lok Sabha elections results, the Opposition leaders have gone on vacation. Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy had gone on vacation to the US, Rahul Gandhi has gone there too and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav has also gone on vacation. But for BJP and Modi there is no vacation,” he alleged.

An anonymous Congress leader also blamed Siddharamaiah for the crisis, saying that he was a “thief inside the party”. The senior party leader, on condition of anonymity, told ANI that Siddaramaiah is “playing games” to wreck the Congress-JD(S) coalition for “his prestige”.

The coalition government in Karnataka slumped into crisis on Saturday following the resignation of their 13 MLAs from the membership of the state Assembly.  The developments have sent leaders of both the parties in a huddle with senior leaders holding a slew of meetings to contain the situation.

After the meeting with Gowda, Shivakumar said, “They (JDS) have called for a meeting of their party leaders and we will also call our party leaders and will sort it out this issue. I am confident that things will cool down immediately. In the interest of the nation and both parties, we have to run government smoothly. I am confident MLAs will come back.”

The JD(S), on the other hand, seemed stern on its part asking Congress for its final decision by the evening. “We have sent our message through DK Shivakumar to KC Venugopal (Karnataka Congress in-charge) to convince their MLAs and let the government run smoothly. It’s very difficult for us to face such situations time and again. This time it needs to be clear. We have also called legislature meet this evening and will tell our MLAs to be with party and decisions,” a senior JD(S) leader told ANI. “We need your final decision, speak to your party leaders and clear it,” JD(S) told ally Congress.

The strength of the ruling coalition in Karnataka has come down to 105, which is eight short of the half-way mark of 113.

Congress MLAs Anand Singh and Ramesh Jarkiholi had resigned from the government earlier this week. Those MLAs, who resigned from the Assembly, include BC Patil, H Vishwanath, Narayan Gowda, S Hebbar, Mahesh Kumatalli, Gopalayya, Ramesh Jharkiholi, and Pratap Gowda Patil. The dissident MLAs have reached Mumbai and are staying in Mumbai’s Sofitel Hotel.

With inputs from agencies