Bengaluru, Jul 15: Two days after CM HD Kumaraswamydeclared in the assembly that he would seek a trust vote, the JD(S)- Congress combine found itself on the backfoot once again on Sunday as a rebel MLA flew off to Mumbai after showing signs of coming around in marathon meetings with the CM and senior Congress leaders.
Smelling blood, opposition BJP insisted that the Kumaraswamy government prove its majority in the assembly on Monday or step down.
Congress leaders, led by water resources minister DK Shivakumar, had virtually ambushed housing minister and rebel MLA MTB Nagaraj at his home at 2.30am on Saturday, followed by nearly 15 hours of successive meetings with chief minister Kumaraswamy, Congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah and others. Nagaraj had said that he would remain in Congress but hours later, the MLA said there was “no question of going back” and boarded a special flight to join the other rebels in Mumbai.
Having lost another flight risk, Congress intensified efforts to pacify disgruntled MLA and former minister R Ramalinga Reddy amid speculation that his daughter Sowmya and another Congress MLA, Anjali Nimbalkar, were set to resign, putting paid to the ruling partners’ hopes of saving the government. Around noon, working president of the state Congress, Eshwar Khandre, and senior leader HK Patil landed up at Reddy’s residence. Later in the day, Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, Mallikarjun Kharge, deputy chief minister G Parameshwara and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal too called on him.
Reddy, however, refused to comment after the meetings, only saying he would not speak politics until July 15, the day he has been asked by the speaker to appear before him on his resignation as MLA.
Among other calls by the ruling allies was a hospital visit by Shivakumar and CM Kumaraswamy.
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