In a boost to the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said three of the four “rebel” Congress MLAs have claimed loyalty to the party.
The announcement was made on Thursday evening following a meeting of the coordination committee of the coalition partners headed by Siddaramaiah.
The five-member committee headed by Siddaramaiah, has Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, JD(S) national secretary Danish Ali, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara as well as Congress secretary and party's state in-charge KC Venugopal.
In a tweet, Siddaramaiah said, “Notices were issued to Ramesh Jarkiholi, Nagendra, Mahesh & Umesh Jadav for not attending the legislature party meeting. Three of them have replied with reasons for not attending & have reaffirmed their loyalty to the Congress party.”
Notices were issued to Ramesh Jarkiholi, Nagendra, Mahesh & Umesh Jadav for not attending the legislature party meeting. Three of them have replied with reasons for not attending & have reaffirmed their loyalty to the Congress party.@INCKarnataka
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) January 24, 2019
The three includes former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumathahalli and B Nagendra. As of now, only Umesh Jadhav has not replied to the show cause notices by SIddaramaiah, who is the leader of the Congress Legislature Party.
HT reported that Ramesh, who was touted to be the rebel leader, had said in his reply, “I will always be loyal to the party and there is no question of me switching over to any other party.”
Speaking to reporters following the coordination committee meet, Siddaramaiah said, “All three wanted the party leadership to accept their explanations and to take it as a positive step towards maintaining discipline and solidarity in the party.”
He added, “BJP’s Operation Lotus has failed again and I hope at least now it will realise that money cannot buy MLAs,” claiming that the government was prepared to face a no-confidence motion in the House.
The TOI also reported that Jadhav, while speaking to reporters in Kalburgi, had also hinted at staying with the Congress as of now.
The coordination committee will meet again in the next week to discuss Lok Sabha poll seat sharing arrangements.
“We have held preliminary discussions on the Lok Sabha polls. In 3-4 days, we will meet again and discuss who should get which seats based on the strengths of both parties. That meeting will be held with former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.