Protests took centre stage in Bengaluru on Wednesday even as the political crisis in the state spilled over to Mumbai’s Renaissance Hotel and even the Supreme Court in the national capital.
As a result of the protests, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad along with other Congress leaders were detained by police for protesting outside the Raj Bhavan where BS Yeddyurappa was just about to arrive along with other state BJP leaders.
Azad and other high profile leaders including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and ex-Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda had joined protestors in central Bengaluru at a stone’s throw away distance from the Vidhana Soudha where the BJP was holding protests.
Speaking at the protest, Deve Gowda exuded confidence about his party holding onto power.
“In my 60 years in politics, I am pained to say I have never seen such a pathetic state. Yesterday, the Speaker reviewed the resignations, and given three of them the opportunity to appear before him and explain the situation tomorrow. He will also do the same with others. In such a situation, it is wrong to put pressure on the Governor,” he told supporters of the Congress and the JD(S) gathered .
MLAs and MLCs of the BJP led by Yeddyurappa convened at the Gandhi statue inside the Assembly premises demanding the resignation of Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. Their claimed being that the government had lost its majority in the House with the resignation of 13 rebel MLAs.
Following the spate of resignations, the Congress-JD(S) coalition has 101 MLAs while the BJP has 107 MLAs on its side.
However, Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar has not accepted the resignations citing technicalities and has said that the rebels MLA meet him in person and tender their resignations.
Following the BJP protests, Yeddyurappa met the Governor and the Speaker.
Addressing reporters following his meeting with the Governor, Yeddyurappa said, "I requested the Governor to convey to Speaker that he should take necessary action immediately. Kumaraswamy has no moral right to continue as Chief Minister, they don't have the numbers. BJP has the numbers. And the Speaker is unnecessarily delaying the process."
He added, “I told the Governor that they don't have the moral right to continue. What is the political crisis? They have created it.”