Karnataka political turmoil: All eyes on Congress MLAs meet as BJP ups pressure

BJP is pushing for a trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly even as Congress is desperate to put its own house in order so that the alliance government in Karnataka can yet be saved.

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With no signs of dissenting Karnataka MLAs relenting, the pressure on Congress is increasing by the day and it will hold a Legislature Party meeting under former CM Siddaramaiah on Monday. The party is trying hard to fend off attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party as calls for holding trust vote gain momentum.

The Congress-Janata Dal Secular government in Karnataka has its back to the wall as despite mammoth efforts to win back dissenting MLAs, not much has come from the appeals. Even a glimmer of hope that came when rebel Congress MLA MTB Nagaraj announced he will withdraw his resignation was snuffed out when he joined the rebels in Mumbai on Sunday. Times are turbulent for Congress and the party is hoping to not lose any more of its MLAs. Siddaramaiah is the leader of the Congress legislature party and will hold a meeting at Bengaluru's Taj Vivanta where almost all of the remaining party MLAs are at.

Congress, in the past several days, also flew in top leaders like Kamal Nath and Ghulam Nabi Azad to salvage the situation. State minister DK Shivakumar has made numerous trips to Mumbai to placate dissenting MLAs from his party, calling them his family members and speaking of love and trust. He also likened them to tigers on Sunday but failed to cut ice.

Alliance partners JDS too has been working overtime to ensure the HD Kumaraswamy-led government survives but all efforts have come to a naught so far. Kumaraswamy has said he is ready to face a trust vote but this could be a risky proposition. The resignation of all dissenting MLAs from Congress and JDS have not been accepted yet by the Speaker but if they are, the tally of Congress-JDS in the Karnataka Assembly could stumble down to 100. The BJP has 105 MLAs and also has the support of two Independents.