Bangalore: All nine Janata Dal Secular (JDS) ministers in Karnataka have submitted their resignations to facilitate a cabinet reshuffle, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s office said Monday. Their resignations came shortly after 21 ministers of coalition partner Congress quit the cabinet.
“All JD(S) ministers have also resigned like the 21 Congress ministers who have submitted their resignations. The Cabinet will be reshuffled at the earliest,” the Chief Minister’s Office said on Twitter.
The crisis in Karnataka was triggered by the resignation of 13 MLAs of the ruling coalition.
The JD(S) share in the cabinet is 12, including the Chief Minister, while that of the Congress is 22, including independent R Shankar who was inducted as minister last month under the party’s quota.
Kumaraswamy who returned here last evening the handle the crisis said Monday that there is no threat to the government. “This is unconstitutional; it is the work of the BJP high command. The government will survive,” Kumaraswamy was quoted as saying by a national news channel.
In the course of last week, 13 legislators – from both the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) – have resigned. If the resignations are accepted by the Speaker Tuesday, the ruling coalition’s strength of 118 in the 224-seat state assembly will come down to 104 – two below the majority mark, which will drop from 113 to 106.
The BJP, with the support of Independent member Nagesh who quit as minister Monday, has 106 members.
Kumaraswamy however, remained optimistic. “I don’t have any kind of anxiety about the present political development. The government will remain,” he said.
Agencies