Zeenews Bureau
Bangalore: Former Karnataka chief minister and Lingayat strongman BS Yeddyurappa continues to tear apart the ruling BJP with thirteen of its rebel MLAs, who had resigned from the party, set to take oath for membership of his Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) on Thursday.
The resignations of 12 BJP MLAs was on Wednesday accepted by the State Assembly Speaker KG Bopaiah, who held one back on technical grounds.
The resignations have left the Jagdish Shettar government with a wafer-thin majority in the State Assembly, and if more party MLAs quit, the BJP would have to depend on independents for survival.
The BJP strength now stands at 106, including the Speaker, in the 225-member Assembly. Two seats are vacant.
The party has the support of one of the seven independents, who is also a Cabinet minister. There is one nominated member who belongs to the BJP. The Congress has 71 members, and the Janata Dal-Secular 26.
Both Shettar and state BJP chief KS Eshwarappa have expressed confidence that there is no threat to the BJP government although it has a wafer-thin majority in the House.
The two also appeared confident that the 10-day Budget Session would be held as scheduled, beginning February 4.Talking to reporters, Eshwarappa said the Chief Minister would present the 2013-14 Budget on Feb 8.
Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar yesterday said that no more resignations were expected from the ruling BJP, though speculation continued that several party law makers would soon quit and join the 13 who have already resigned.
The BJP-led Karnataka government has been going through a major crisis since Yeddyurappa resigned and launched his own party in December, 2012. Many of his loyalists in the BJP even attended the convention where the KJP was launched.
With Agency inputs
First Published: Thursday, January 31, 2013, 09:36