In another massive political development from Karnataka, all the ministers of the Congress have tendered their resignations to accommodate disgruntled MLAs, following suit the JD(S) ministers have also resigned. Cabinet reshuffle expected.
All ministers from #JDS have submitted their resignations just like the 21 ministers from #Congress.
Cabinet reshuffle will happen soon.— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) July 8, 2019
This move by the Congress and JD(S) ministers come after media reports stated that around 14 MLAs of the alliance have tendered their resignations to the speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Karnataka which had presented an interesting situation following the assembly elections in the state with a post-poll alliance of JD(S) and the Congress preventing the more popular BJP with a maximum number of seats(104) from forming the government. JD(S) with the least number of seats(37), riding on Congress‘ desperation, was successful in grabbing the Chief Minister’s post despite Congress being the major contributor to the post-poll coalition with 78 seats.
This post-poll coalition was seen by many being contrary to peoples mandate as the Congress and the JD(S) had fought election opposing each other ferociously, however, later on, giving in to political greed had forged this alliance of convenience. Nonetheless, this alliance with no ideological basis has been facing turbulent waters situation since its inception. Several incidents indicting towards possible cracks in the alliance have surfaced. As the alliance with JD(S) already in a critical condition, problems for the have further intensified with these resignations. The recent Lok Sabha elections results have also indicated the declining support for the alliance in the state. The alliance just won on 2 out of the total 28 Parliamentary Constituencies in the state.
Currently, the Congress-JD(S) alliance boasts of 118 MLAs {78(Congress)+ 37(JDS) + 1(BSP) +1(IND) + 1(nominated)} in the Assembly where the total number is 225, including the speaker and a nominated member from the Anglo-Indian community. The resignation of 14 MLAs brings down the total number in the assembly at 210, excluding the Speaker. As such, the resignation also brings down the majority mark. The total number of MLAs in the Assembly would be 210 (excluding the speaker) after the resignation of the 14 MLAs. This also effectively changes the majority mark to 106. The resignation of 14 MLAs effectively makes it impossible for the Kumaraswamy government to continue in the face of an inevitable trust vote with just 104 MLAs on its side. Currently, BJP has 105 MLAs ( 1 added after by-poll victory in Chincholi in Kalaburagi) in the assembly and is also supported by the lone MLA of KPJP bringing BJP+ to 106. That essentially puts BJP in the majority position at this stage.
In the coming week, if the speaker accepts the resignation of the MLAs, the Congress-JD(S) coalition will face the trust vote in the Assembly. As it stands, the coalition does not have the numbers to prove the majority and is likely to fail the trust vote. The lone MLA’s 1 of BSP and other Independent might also miss out on the important leverage of their support it the numbers unfold as expected according to recent developments. However, media reports have also been indicating towards the departure of the lone independent MLA and minister H Nagesh from the alliance further increasing the problems for the already struggling alliance. Putting up a Brave Face, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has said “I don’t have any kind of anxiety about the present political development. I don’t want to discuss anything about politics.”, Despite these comments by the JD(S) leader the continuation of this administration seems infeasible.
