With two more Congress legislators tendering their resignation letters to Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar on Wednesday, the number of “rebel” legislators from the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) quitting their Assembly membership went up to 16.
Of the 16, resignations of eight legislators are in the proper format under Rule 202 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Karnataka Legislative Assembly, said sources in the Speaker’s office.
On Tuesday, the Speaker had said that eight resignation letters were not in order.
Mr. Kumar on Wednesday confirmed that the resignation letters of Housing Minister and MLA for Hoskote N. Nagaraju (MTB)and MLA for Chickballapur K. Sudhakar were in order. In addition, the resignation of senior Congress leader R. Roshan Baig, who submitted his resignation on Tuesday, was also in order. He said Mr. Nagaraju and Mr. Sudhakar had been asked to appear before him on July 17.
Another letter
Sources said Yellapur legislator Shivaram Hebbar had sent another resignation letter through his son and K.R. Puram legislator Byrathi Basavaraj had sent his resignation letter through his office staff. Mr. Kumar, however, said such things cannot be considered.
Earlier, a delegation of BJP leaders, led by the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, met him to convince him to accept the resignations submitted by the “rebel” Congress and JD(S) legislators. While Mr. Yeddyurappa left his office, others such as J. Madhuswamy, C.T. Ravi, and Suneel Kumar stayed back for discussions. However, as Mr. Nagaraju and Mr. Sudhakar arrived at the Speaker’s office, they left.