In yet another setback to Congress-JDS coalition govenrment in Karntaka, two more Congress MLAs, MTB Nagraj and Dr Sudhakar have submitted their resignations to Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day,Congress troubleshooter DK Shivakumar was stopped from entering the premises of the Mumbai hotel where rebel Karnataka MLAs have been staying since Saturday after submitting their resignations. He was later detained by the Mumbai police -- following which Section 144 of the IPC was imposed around the area.
This has taken the total number of rebels to 16. As many as 14 MLAs from both parties have already tendered resignation, reducing the ruling coalition to a minority.
The 13-month old Congress-JD(S) government plummetted into a crisis following the resignation of 11 MLAs last week.
The Karnataka Assembly has 225 members, including one nominated MLA. If the resignations are indeed accepted by Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, the ruling coalition's number in the 225-member House will drop from 118 to 101, 12 short of the majority mark.
To this end, the coalition is making all efforts to protect its government.
While the Congress party has been accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of conspiring to topple the coalition government in the state, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy says the government will stay put come what may and the crisis will be resolved.
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WATCH: Sec 144 imposed near Mumbai hotel
