All Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) ministers in Karnataka stepped down from the Cabinet on Monday to help accommodate rebel MLAs who submitted their resignations last week. The coalition, led by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, will name a new Cabinet soon.
Fourteen MLAs of the two parties submitted their resignations last week, including 13 in one go on Saturday. Earlier in the day, independent MLA H Nagesh also withdrew support from the government and resigned from the Cabinet post he got last month.
If the Speaker accepts the resignations and Nagesh offers support to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the government will lose its majority.
Also read: Explainer: Will the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka fall?
Here’s the top updates of the day:
10.30 pm: BJP MLA R Ashok says it is deplorable that the governor’s name has been dragged into the controversy, reports PTI.
10.29 pm: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara accuses Governor Vajubhai Vala of encouraging horse trading, reports PTI. “Our governor when the MLAs went to submit their resignations to him, there was no necessity for him to chit-chat with them for two hours,” Parameshwara tells reporters. “In the photograph you have published, the governor was sitting with the police officer. If there was any threat to any MLA, if the MLAs had asked for any security then the question of police security arises but the governor called the police commissioner there and discussed with the MLAs for two hours. In such a situation, we are forced to say that you are responsible for the horse trading.”
10.01 pm: Karnataka Congress’ legal department petitions the speaker, requesting him not to accept resignations of 13 Congress-JD(S) legislators. The Congress alleges that rules have not been followed during its submission, PTI reports.
8.42 pm: Congress leaders KC Venugopal, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Siddaramaiah, G Parameshwara, MB Patil, and Eshwara Khandre hold meeting at an undisclosed location, with legal advisers to discuss about the further action against the MLAs who have resigned, reports ANI.
8.40 pm: Kumaraswamy to hold meeting with JD(S) MLAs at 9 pm. Security tightened at the resort, reports News9.
8.36 pm: A bus, carrying JD(S) MLAs, arrives at Prestige Golfshire Club in Nandi Hills road at Devanahalli, Karnataka, reports News18.
8.34 pm: BS Yeddyurappa comments on Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy saying that the government will run smoothly. “Two Independent MLAs met the governor and gave letter that they’ll support BJP, now we’re 105+2 = 107,” he tells ANI. “Even when they have lost majority Kumaraswamy is speaking like that, people are observing everything. Let us see and wait.”
7.59 pm: “But this govt changed our agenda as they’ve now come in minority. Question is will this government stay or not,” Limbavali tells ANI. “It was discussed to wait for 2 more days and see if this government resigns or not and then decide our course of action. We’ll hold a legislative party meet again tomorrow [Tuesday].”
7.57 pm: BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali says Congress government in Karnataka did not carry out development. “There have been drought and infrastructure issues here since last 1 year,” he tells ANI. “Today’s [Monday] meeting was called to discuss the issues to be taken up in the assembly session which begins on July 12.”
7.44 pm: “I’m hurt by the way Congress party treated me, I’ll resign from my MLA post and join BJP,” says Karnataka Congress leader Roshan Baig to ANI.
7.43 pm: Bus carrying JD(S) MLAs leaves from Taj West End hotel. They are being taken to Golfshire, Nandi hills road in Devanahalli, Karnataka, ANI reports.
7.40 pm: Congress leader DK Shivakumar likely to meet Congress MP Ahmed Patel in Delhi to brief him on political crisis in Karnataka, reports News9.
7.38 pm: Congress leaders reach Kumara Krupa Guest House in Bengaluru for a meeting, ANI reports. KC Venugopal says, “Don’t worry”.
6.49 pm: Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Siddaramaiah, and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, among others to meet at 7 pm, reports ANI.
6.31 pm: The Congress legal cell writes to the speaker, asking him not to accept MLAs’ resignations, reports News9.
6.20 pm: “Senior leaders of Congress and JD(S) are trying to get in touch with the rebel MLAs and somehow trying to get them back into the camp,” says JD(S) leader Abdul Razzak Khan to News18.
6.09 pm: Venugopal says ministers from the Congress party resigned voluntarily, The Indian Express reports. “I sincerely thank the ministers for their decision and their attitude to sacrifice their ministership for uniting the party and defeating the anti-democratic attitude of the BJP to destabilise the government,” he said.
6.05 pm: Karnataka Minister and Independent MLA R Shankar resigns from the Council of Ministers, ANI reports.
5.58 pm: BJP leader Ram Madhav rejects allegations of his party engineering the defections in Karnataka, says it is ridiculous to blame BJP. “Everybody knows whatever is happening in Karnataka is because of the ambitions of certain leaders of their own parties,” he tells PTI. “It is they who are engineering dissent within their party. It is they who are actually running the coalition, which was [anyway] against the mandate of the people. They came together and tried to run it and today they are fighting among themselves.”
5.52 pm: Police detain Congress protestors protesting outside Sofitel Hotel, The Indian Express reports.
5.49 pm: JD (S) MLAs will leave for a resort in Madikeri, Karnataka soon in a private bus, News9 reports
5.46 pm: Youth Congress workers protest outside Sofitel hotel in Mumbai where rebel Karnataka MLAs are present, ANI reports.
5.41 pm: BJP leaders call for Kumaraswamy’s resignation. They are likely to hold a statewide protest, reports News9.
5.39 pm: Yeddyurappa says that the BJP is going to hold a legislature party meeting, reports News18. “They must resign because they lost majority. We will discuss about political situation, drought situation, and problems faced by people.”
5.35 pm: BJP leaders arrive for legislative party meeting in Bengaluru, ANI reports.
5.31 pm: Karnataka Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar leaves for Bengaluru. Kumar is likely to decide on th resignations of the rebel MLAs on Tuesday, News9 reports.
4.44 pm: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweets about Kumaraswamy’s remark that the matter will be resolved and the government will run smoothly. He says: “This is some serious confidence on display here! What does he know that NO one else seems to know.”
4.35 pm: The MLAs of the Janata Dal (Secular) will be taken to a resort in Kodagu, reports News18.
3.39 pm: The Congress is planning to take legal action against its rebel MLAs, reports News9. Congress leaders G Parameshwara, MB Patil and KB Gowda hold a discussion with a retired judge.
3.38 pm: The JD(S) is likely to move its MLAs to Paddington Resorts in Madikeri, Karnataka, News18 reports.
3.37 pm: Independent MLA Nagesh reaches the Mumbai hotel where other rebel MLAs are staying, ANI reports.
3.28 pm: All ministers of the Janata Dal (Secular) have also resigned. A Cabinet reshuffle will take place soon, says Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.
3.10 pm: Senior Congress leaders will meet at 7 pm in New Delhi, and are expected to discuss the Karnataka crisis, reports News18.
3.05 pm: All JD(S) ministers have also resigned, ANI reports. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy says, “I don’t have any kind of anxiety about the present political development. I don’t want to discuss anything about politics.”
2.54 pm: JD(S) MLAs have gathered at the office of Karnataka minister HD Revanna, reports ANI.
2.49 pm: Congress leader DK Shivakumar claims that independent MLA Nagesh had called him to say he had been “hijacked” by Yeddyurappa’s PA and the BJP. “By the time I reached airport the flight had left,” Shivakumar claims. Nagesh, who withdrew support from the coalition earlier in the day, has left for Mumbai.
2.40 pm: Siddaramaiah requests all the rebel MLAs to reconsider their decision and “strengthen our government”.
2.38 pm: Congress leader Siddaramaiah tweets: “Our ministers have voluntarily resigned to help save the government. We will try to accommodate those MLAs who have resigned & interested to be the ministers. We will reshuffle the cabinet keeping regional aspirations & social obligations in mind.”
2.37 pm: HD Kumaraswamy insists the problem will be resolved and his government will run smoothly, ANI reports.
2.27 pm: HD Kumaraswamy should have resigned after the debacle in the Lok Sabha elections on moral ground, but he stayed on for the purpose of power, BJP leader Jagadish Shettar says.
2.23 pm: JD(S) leader DC Thammanna, who holds the transport portfolio, says his party has given no direction for resignation, ANI reports. He says, “If they suggest, I will definitely resign.”
2.16 pm: Some Congress MPs turned up in the Lok Sabha with “Save Democracy” posters, reports ANI.
2.05 pm: Congress MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa has said he cannot comment on the stability of the coalition government, and expresses disappointment at not being invited to the Congress meeting at Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara’s home, reports News9.
1.52 pm: Siddaramaiah accuses the BJP of using central agencies to destabilise the coalition government. “Not just state BJP but also Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi did this,” he alleges. “Many of our MLAs have been promised money, they have used I-T department and ED.”
1.50 pm: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claims Independents are supporting the ruling alliance. “All together we have 120 MLAs,” Hindustan Times quotes him as saying. “Hundred and four is not 120, magic figure is 113.”
1.39 pm: BJP leader R Ashoka says Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy should take responsibility for the political crisis and resign, reports News9. “When Congress was ruling at the Centre, they were using the governor’s office for their party,” ANI quotes him as saying. “BJP has no culture of using governor’s office.”
1.35 pm: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh claims the BJP has nothing to do with the resignations of legislators of the ruling alliance in Karnataka, reports ANI.
“We are committed to maintaining dignity of parliamentary democracy,” Singh tells the Lok Sabha. “Trend of submitting resignations was started by Rahul Gandhi in Congress, it was not started by us. He himself asked people to submit resignations, even senior leaders are submitting their resignations.”
Read more: Karnataka crisis: Rajnath Singh denies BJP role in resignations, blames Rahul Gandhi for the trend
1.31 pm: Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal says all efforts are being made to resolve the crisis. “Some [MLAs] have grievances, of course,” News18 quotes him as saying. “In a democracy, we cannot accommodate everyone. Yesterday and today we had detailed discussion. Today, we met all ministers. The ministers themselves voluntarily resigned and entrusted party to reshuffle.”
1.11 pm: Karnataka Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah says 21 Congress ministers have resigned “voluntarily”, reports ANI.
1 pm: Congress leader Priyank Kharge tells Hindustan Times that ministers of his party have submitted their resignations to Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao.
12.56 pm: Karnataka minister Zameer Ahmed Khan tells reporters that by evening “at least six to seven MLAs of the 10 MLAs who are in the BJP camp are going to come back”.
12.47 pm: Independent MLA H Nagesh has boarded a special flight to Mumbai after resigning as minister in the HD Kumaraswamy government, reports ANI. Most of the rebel Congress and JD(S) legislators who have resigned are staying in a hotel in the Maharashtra capital.
12.44 pm: Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, accuses the BJP of poaching legislators of the ruling JD(S)-Congress alliance in Karnataka. “We will try to raise the Karnataka issue in Parliament but we won’t reveal our weapons,” PTI quotes him as saying. “But it is clear that BJP is a poacher party.”
12.06 pm: Karandlaje welcomes independent MLA H Nagesh, who resigned as minister, to the BJP, reports ANI. “We will accept anybody into our party who is from non-political dispensation,” she says. “We’re not in touch with any rebels of the Congress and JD(S), as long as they are with their parties.”
11.54 am: BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje says Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy should resign immediately, reports ANI. “He has lost the majority,” she says. “Congress MLAs have already resigned. He should make way for another government.” She had met BJP state chief BS Yeddyurappa at his residence in Bengaluru.
11.45 am: Independent MLA and Karnataka minister H Nagesh resigns. He informs Governor Vajubhai Vala that he is withdrawing support to the coalition government led by HD Kumaraswamy and would extend his support to the Bharatiya Janata Party if it is called to form a government in the state.
11.40 am: Congress MLA and Minister for Sports and Youth Empowerment Rahim Mahmood Khan threatens to quit, according to PTI. Khan says he has informed senior Congress leaders about his grievances and will announce his decision after a meeting at Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara’s house.
“My department got only Rs 15 crore budget this year and it has just now been released,” Khan told PTI. “Of this amount, Rs 13 crore will be paid to clear old bills. How can I carry out various projects across Karnataka with the remaining Rs two crore?”
11.34 am: Suresh says the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress government in the state is stable, reported The Indian Express. “BJP people are playing dirty politics,” he says. “They do not want a democratic setup and are up to horse trading.”
11.30 am: Congress MP DK Suresh says all Congress ministers in Karnataka will resign from the Cabinet, according to ANI. “BJP national leaders are behind this,” he says. “BJP people don’t want this government or any opposition party to rule in the state or in the country. They are destroying the democracy.”
11.25 am: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara has said all Congress ministers in the Cabinet will resign to accommodate rebel MLAs if the need arises, according to The News Minute. “We are trying to save our government,” he says. “If the party tells me to resign, I will also resign.”
A meeting between Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Parameshwara is under way at the deputy chief minister’s house in the wake of the resignations, reports News18.