In a significant setback to the JD(S)-Congress government in Karnataka, former Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy submitted his resignation as an MLA, however, Speaker Ramesh Kumar is yet to accepting this resignation. Speaking to ANI, Ramalinga Reddy said that he would not blame the party or the high command, but was resigning because he felt "neglected".
"I somewhere feel I was being neglected over some issues. That is why I have taken this decision," he said. When asked if the BJP is in touch with him, he said, "Nothing like that.”
When asked whether his daughter and MLA Sowmya Reddy, who is also reportedly likely to resign, will be joining BJP, Reddy said, "That is her decision."
Though Congress troubleshooter DK Shivakumar managed to take away Ramalinga Reddy and two others with him, Reddy for now seems adamant about his resignation.
Reddy is unhappy that neither he nor his daughter were made ministers in the cabinet. Though he was supposed to be accomodated in the recent reshuffle, it did not happen, leaving Reddy miffed. Moreover, there is tussle between Ramalinga Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Parameshwara over the garbage tenders given in Bengaluru, as this used to be Reddy's turf.
Along with former Ramalinga Reddy, 10 other MLAs - Ramesh Jarkiholi, AH Vishwanath, Somashekar, Pratap Gouda Patil, Gopalaiah, BC Patil, Mahesh Kumtahallli, Narayana Gowda, Byrati Basavaraj, Shivram Hebbar - have submitted their resignations to the Speaker’s office. Some of the dissenting MLAs also met Governor Vajubhai R Vala.
These developments have put the JD(S)-Congress’s ruling coalition in Karnataka in a tight spot. While 11 MLAs have resigned, if five more do so, the coalition will no longer have a majority in the Karnataka Assembly.
The developments have come as a shock to leaders of the ruling coalition. Soon after the news of the legislators reaching Vidhana Soudha got out, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao rushed to former Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy’s residence as the latter’s name was doing the rounds as one of the MLAs likely to quit.