Bengaluru: High drama and confusion is unfolding in the ruling Congress-JD(S) camp in Karnataka. Today 10 Congress MLAs reached the Karnataka Legislative Assembly at 6 pm to submit their resignations to the Speaker as directed by the Supreme Court. Though, the Speaker received their letters, he said that he needs time to check if they are genuine.
The rebel MLAs had earlier petitioned that the Speaker K. R. Ramesh Kumar was not accepting their resignations to which the Speaker replied that he could not accept resignations overnight.
The Supreme Court today then directed the MLAs to tender their resignations at 6 pm.
In the press meet that the Speaker held after accepting the resignation letters of the MLAs, he claimed that the Supreme Court had asked him to take a decision and that he had videographed everything and will send it to the Supreme Court.
He said that he needs to ascertain if the resignations submitted by the MLAs directly to him are genuine and needs all night to check it out.
Ramesh Kumar also said that he was disappointed to see the news that he was delaying the process.
Meanwhile, Congress leader and Minister D. K. Shivakumar said that it was a dark day for democracy as he was not allowed to meet the resigned Congress and JD(S) MLAs residing in Mumbai.
Congress-JD(S) coalition government now hangs in the balance after a total of 15 MLAs tendered their resignation letters. If the resignations are formally accepted by the Speaker the government will turn into a minority in the house and hence will have to quit. This has forced the Speaker, Ramesh Kumar, from accepting their resignations quickly and kept delaying his final decision.
