Though Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s declaration of seeking a trust vote amid the political crisis has taken the Bharatiya Janata Party by surprise, its leaders are confident of seeing it through. However, to defeat the move, the party has to ensure that the rebel MLAs from the ruling coalition, who are camping in Mumbai at present, abstain from voting and that none from its own camp switch sides.
According to sources, the party is not going to take things for granted and will be cautious as it feels it is at the altar of forming a government.
The Chief Minister’s decision to seek a trust vote has made the BJP believe that some of its MLAs are in touch with the ruling coalition. The party leaders have identified four to five of their “vulnerable” MLAs, who are allegedly being eyed by the ruling coalition and are keeping a watch on their movements. “Instead of keeping only the vulnerable MLAs in the resort, the party has decided to ask all the MLAs to camp in the resort as a flock-keeping exercise,” a BJP senior leader said.
Amidst all these developments, the BJP has been awaiting the verdict of the Supreme Court with on the petition on resignation of rebel MLAs as the party feels that the court’s stand on the matter would play a crucial role in the ongoing political uncertainty.
Meanwhile, the BJP leaders reportedly had a tough time convincing rebel MLAs in Mumbai about the authenticity of its plans to include them in its fold after a meeting between JD(S) leader Sa. Ra. Mahesh and BJP leaders P. Muralidhar Rao on Thursday night triggered speculation of the JD(S) joining hands with the saffron party. According to sources, a top leader of the BJP State unit is learnt to have telephoned the rebels on Thursday night itself to reassure them that they would not be dumped.
On Friday, four rebel MLAs visited Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai while some of them also held consultations with legal experts on their position in the wake of Speaker Ramesh Kumar taking a tough stand on their resignations.