Of these, eight MLAs were from Congress and three were from the JD(S), said the report.
In a fresh setback to the wobbly coalition government of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka, 11 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of the ruling alliance submitted their resignation to state Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar in the Vidhana Soudha on July 6, according to news agency ANI.
Of these, eight MLAs are from the Congress and three are from the JD(S), said the report.
Ramesh Kumar was not in his office when the legislators went there to submit their resignation. “I was supposed to pick up my daughter that is why I went home, I have told my office to take resignations and give acknowledgement that 11 members resigned. Tomorrow is leave so I will see them on Monday,” Kumar told ANI.
Later, the legislators went to the Raj Bhavan to meet Governor Vajubhai Vala.
As a last bid, Congress' "troubleshooter" and minister DK Shivakumar met the legislators and tried to convince them.
Also read | Congress-JD(S) govt hanging by a thread: How numbers stack up in the Karnataka Assembly
Asked about the resignation of MLAs, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader DV Sadananda Gowda told reporters, "They thought it's high time to come out of that party and resigned from legislators post as they felt that continuing as MLAs was not good in the larger interest of their constituency and state."
Gowda further said that the BJP was ready to form the government if the Governor called the party to do so. "Governor is the supreme authority, as per the constitutional mandate if he calls us, certainly we are ready to form the government. We are the single largest party, we have got 105 people with us," he said. BS Yeddyurappa will be the Chief Minister if a new Government is formed, added Gowda.
Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is reportedly not in the country. He is expected to return to Bengaluru from the United States on July 7.
On July 1, two Congress MLAs, Anand Singh and Ramesh Jarkiholi, tendered their resignations.
The total strength of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly is 225 seats. Out of this, one is a nominated member.
This effectively changes the strength of the House 224 seats and makes 113 the ‘magic number’ to attain a majority in the house.
The coalition's strength stands at 118 (Congress-78, JD(S)-37, BSP-1 and Independents-2), besides the Speaker. This includes MLAs who have resigned, as their resignations are yet to be accepted by the Speaker.
The BJP has 105 MLAs in the House.Catch Budget 2019 LIVE updates here. Click here for full Budget 2019 coverage
