It appears that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is going slow in taking action against MLAs who defied party diktat and attended the Karnataka Janata Party rally of B S Yeddyurappa at Haveri on Sunday.
All the 14 MLAs attended the Assembly on Monday. The Opposition, too, did not use the divide to put the government on the mat.
On Sunday, 14 MLAs, including minister Sunil Vallyapure, who has quit his post to show his solidarity with Yeddyurappa, attended the KJP rally at Haveri. The chief minister has accepted his resignation. At least half of them, except Vallyapure, on Monday were in the Assembly. Even ministers Shobha Karandlaje, C M Udasi, Umesh Katti and Murugesh Nirani, Renukacharya and Revu Naik Belamagi who were in the breakfast meeting at the residence of BJP MLC Shivaraj Sajjanar, attended the session.
Even at the State Cabinet meeting, it was business as usual and various issues were discussed. Except ministers Varthur Prakash and Umesh Katti, the rest were present.
The seven MLAs — Nehru Olekar, Shrishilappa Bidarur, Chandrakanth Bellad, G Shivanna, Lakshminarayana, Y C Vishwanath and C C Patil — attended the Assembly session. As they are technically with the BJP, they continued to sign in the attendance register as BJP MLAs.
Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar told reporters that the issue will be discussed at the party state executive committee meeting on December 12 in Belgaum. He also reiterated that there is no threat to his government and that it will complete its full term. He also set aside the demand for dissolution of the Assembly.
At least till Monday evening, the BJP gave an impression that it was not giving credence to what happened at the KJP convention. But sources in the party said it may issue show cause notices to the MLAs and wait for their responses.
Later, it may petition the Speaker to disqualify the MLAs but that may not happen before presenting the budget in January first week.
The party is desperate to continue in power so that it has the advantage during the next elections. Even MLAs, who are with Yeddyurappa, are not ready to lose either ministership or their membership when elections are just months away.
Oppn demand
Interestingly, the principal Opposition, the Congress, demanded that the chief minister should dissolve the Assembly and face fresh elections. Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief G Parameshwara said the BJP government has been reduced to a minority and it has no right to conduct the Legislature session. The Assembly should be immediately dissolved, they said.
Parameshwara told reporters that his party would submit a petition to the governor to dismiss the government as it has “lost its mandate”.
Meanwhile, a group of MLAs led by Municipal Administration Minister Balachandra Jarkiholi held a meeting and asked the BJP to sack Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje, PWD Minister C M Udasi and the 14 MLAs for going to Haveri.
Rebels MLAs may not get ticket
The 14 BJP MLAs who attended the Haveri convention of the Karnataka Janata party on Sunday are unlikely to get party tickets to contest the Assembly elections next year, reports DHNS from New Delhi.
A senior BJP leader on condition of anonymity said: “Many of these MLAs will not get party ticket to contest the elections expected to take place sometime around April.” The party heaved a sigh of relief after only 14 MLAs came out in support of Yeddyurappa, contrary to speculations that about 40 elected representatives will defect. “We are keeping an eye on the entire development in Karnataka,” deputy leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ravi Shankar Prasad, told reporters.