Given the political turmoil in the State, all eyes are now on Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who is expected to return to Bengaluru from his U.S. trip by this weekend.
There is curiosity about his possible moves to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party’s efforts to woo the ruling party MLAs to topple his government.
According to sources in the government, the Chief Minister is likely to create a few ministerial vacancies to accommodate some of the ruling MLAs who are being eyed by the BJP. Sources said that the ruling combine was also considering providing ministerial berths to defectors, if it manages to get a few BJP MLAs to join its fold.
The JD(S) has already got a vacant ministerial berth in its share. The party is likely to request two Ministers, who are very close to the Chief Minister, to step down to create two more vacancies.
Speculation is that the Congress leaders too may try out similar tactics to create ministerial vacancies if the BJP continues to woo their MLAs.
However, it remains to be seen whether the coalition would fill up the ministerial berths this month itself as Ashada, which is considered to be inauspicious, has just begun.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister is learnt to be in touch with party leaders in the State from the U.S. According to sources, he has expressed confidence that he would be able to counter the moves by the BJP to topple the government.
Two Congress MLAs have quit so far. Of them, one has submitted his resignation to the Speaker, while the other has only sent it through fax.