‘Coalition will weather the political storm’

Mysuru: With no fresh resignations of MLAs after the jolt on Monday when two Congress legislators — Anand Singh and Ramesh Jarkiholi — submitted their resignations from the state Assembly, the ruling Congress and its Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah in particular seemed confident that despite the reduced numbers, the coalition would be able to weather the political storm.

“Mr Anand Singh has not resigned because he did not get a ministerial berth, he  was upset over the Jindal land deal row. We have not been able to contact him but we will speak to him. There is no situation which warrants the convening of a co-ordination committee meeting of the coalition,” Mr Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru. He also claimed that it was only Anand Singh who had resigned while Ramesh Jarkiholi has not formally submitted his resignation to the Speaker.

Siddaramaiah and other coalition leaders, including CM H.D. Kumaraswamy, who is away in the US, have been asserting that there is no threat to the JD(S)-Congress government because of the resignations though the exit of the two MLAs will bring down its strength to 116 in a 224 member House.

On JD(S) leader  G.T. Devegowda’s statement that the BJP is not involved in Operation Kamala to poach on Congress legislators, Siddaramaiah quipped, “He may have such information but the BJP has definitely indulged in Operation Kamala and PM  Narendra Modi and Mr Amit Shah (BJP National President)  themselves are behind it.”

The former CM held a fourth round of meetings of booth-level Congress workers of Varuna Assembly seat, on the dip in the lead in the Lok Sabha polls compared to the huge margin his son Dr Yathindra secured in the constituency, in last year’s Assembly polls.