Seven rebel JD(S) MLAs resign, to join Congress today

BENGALURU: Having defied the party and its leadership for over two years, seven JD(S) rebels on Saturday resigned and headed to Mysuru to join the Congress in the presence of AICC president Rahul Gandhi.
Once a part of the inner circle of incumbent JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy, former MLAs B Z Zameer Ahmad Khan (Chamarajpet), N Cheluvarayswamy (Nagamangala), Bheema Naik (Hagribommanahalli), Ramesh Bandisiddegowda (Srirangapatna), Iqbal Ansari (Gangavati), Akhanda Srinivas Murthy (Pulakeshinagar) and H C Balakrishna (Magadi) submitted their resignations to legislative assembly speaker K B Koliwad.

While Bandisiddegowda submitted his resignation to Koliwad in Mysuru on Friday, four others including the leaders of the rebel faction Zameer and Cheluvarayaswamy handed their resignation letters to Koliwad at his residence on Saturday morning.

The other two MLAs gave their resignation in the afternoon.

The seven rebels are facing legal action from the JD(S) for defying the party whip and cross voting for Congress Rajya Sabha candidate K C Ramamurthy in 2016 and are said to have once again on Friday voted for Congress MP G C Chandrashekar, resulting in the defeat of JD(S) official candidate B M Farook even before the election results were to be announced both the times.

The JD(S) had also petitioned Koliwad to take action against the seven MLAs and disqualify them prior to the RS polls which concluded on March 23. However, Koliwad has reserved his judgment.

Speaking to the media after accepting their resignations, Koliwad said: “While the case of disqualification is still pending with me, there is no law which prohibits them from resigning before I give the verdict. The MLAs have resigned out of their own free will and voluntarily. There was no pressure on them to do so.”

According to Congress leaders, all the seven MLAs have been assured assembly tickets in their respective constituencies for the 2018 elections.

The seven rebel MLAs along with three other JD(S) ex-MLCs, M C Nanaiah, Sarovar Srinivas and G Ramakrishna will join Congress at a public rally on March 25 at the Maharani College grounds in Mysuru.