Karnataka political crisis: Siddaramaiah to hold Congress Legislature Party meet on Monday

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior state Congress leader Siddaramaiah has called for another Congress Legislature Party meeting on Monday. All party MLAs have been asked to attend the meet.

The development comes amid the backdrop of a reported fight between two party MLAs-Anand Singh and JN Ganesh on Saturday. 

Singh, the Vijayanagara MLA was hospitalised with injuries to the face, neck and shoulder.

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Multiple sources from the Eagleton resort outside Bengaluru, as well as the state Congress leadership confirmed that Kampli MLA Ganesh and Hagaribommanahalli MLA Bheema Naik assaulted Singh, leaving him with bruises on the face. 

While some sources suggested that Singh’s attempts to woo the Central leaders of the Congress was the reason for the brawl, others said that his role in warning the Congress of BJP’s alleged Operation Kamala sparked off the scuffle. 

Some of the party leaders too initially gave excuses ranging from chest pain to accidental fall for Singh’s hospitalisation.

Singh's wife Laxmi has threatened to take legal actions against MLA Ganesh.

"If it is true that Ganesh beat up my husband, my children and I will not keep quiet and will take legal action against him," Laxmi told the media from Mumbai.

On Sunday, the party issued notices to its four MLAs seeking explanation from them for their absence at the previous Legislature Party meeting, asking why no action should taken against them under the anti-defection law.

The notices were sent to Ramesh Jarkiholi, who was dropped as minister in the recent cabinet rejig and is said to be extremely unhappy over it, B Nagendra, Umesh Jadhav and Mahesh Kumatahalli, Congress sources said.

Exposing fissures in the party, the four lawmakers had skipped the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meet Friday, which was called as a show of strength against the BJP's alleged attempt to topple the party's coalition government with the JD(S) in the state.

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The absence of the four lawmakers posed no imminent threat to the seven-month-old Congress-JD(S) government in the numbers game, but suggested that all was not well within the Congress which is still wrestling with dissidence.

In the notice issued to Jarkiholi, while seeking response from him for not attending the meeting, CLP leader Siddaramaiah has also sought an explanation about the media reports that he was joining the BJP and about his visit to Delhi and Mumbai to meet saffron party leaders.

Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy, on the other hand, met his fellow JD(S) MLAs at a resort outside Mysuru on Saturday.

In the meeting that lasted into the midnight, Kumaraswamy, who is fretted over BJP eyeing disgruntled legislators in the regional party, is learnt to have tried to convince them with a promise of better chances.

He was accompanied by JD(S) state president A H Vishwanath, District Minister G T Devegowda, Tourism and Sericulture Minister Sa Ra Mahesh, Minor Irrigation Minister and Mandya in-charge C S Puttaraju, Cooperation Minister Bandeppa Kashempur, T Narsipur MLA C S Ashwin Kumar, MLCs  K T Srikante Gowda and Marithibbe Gowda to name a few.

A majority of the 37 MLAs of the party attended the closed-door meeting over dinner and not less than 25 rooms had been booked.

(With inputs from ENS and agencies)