BENGALURU, July 6 - Fourteen MLAs of the ruling JD(S)-Congress alliance in Karnataka have submitted their resignation to the Speaker, putting a question mark on the survival of the 13-month-old government.
If the resignations are accepted, the wobbly ruling coalition will lose majority in the 224-member Assembly as its strength will come down to 104.
The crisis, which had been brewing ever since the BJP swept the parliamentary polls in the State, deepened as 13 Congress and JD(S) MLAs reached the Speaker�s office to put in their papers and later met Governor Vajubhai Vala at the Raj Bhavan on Saturday.
After meeting the Governor, JD(S) MLA AH Vishwanath said, �Fourteen MLAs from Congress and JD(S), including Anand Singh, have submitted resignation from the Assembly to the Speaker... We also brought the matter to the notice of Governor.� Singh submitted his resignation earlier this week.
Vishwanath accused the coalition government led by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy of failing in its duty and denied that the BJP was behind the revolt. �The government failed to coordinate with the MLAs... and take them along,� he said.
On the charge that the BJP was trying to destabilise the government through �Operation Lotus (BJP�s poll symbol)�, he said it is �a figment of your imagination�.
Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar, who was not in his office when the legislators went there on Saturday, confirmed the resignations and said �whether the government will fall or survive� would be decided �in the Assembly�. As a last-ditch bid, Congress� �trouble shooter� and Minister DK Shivakumar met the legislators and tried to convince them.
The JD(S)-Congress coalition�s total strength, including those who have put in their papers, is 118 (Congress-78, JD(S)-37, BSP-1 and Independents-2), besides the Speaker. The BJP has 105 MLAs in the House, where halfway mark is 113. � PTI
