Kumaraswamy won’t resign, will convene meetings to try and save JD(S)-Congress govt

Karnataka CM H.D. Kumaraswamy has refused to take his father Deve Gowda’s advice to resign. Instead, he’s prepared to face a no-confidence motion on 12 July.

File photo of H.D. Kumaraswamy | PTI

Bengaluru: H.D. Kumaraswamy is not going down without a fight. The Karnataka Chief Minister is not going to resign in the face of mounting pressure; instead, he is expected to convene a meeting of Janata Dal (Secular) legislators Sunday evening, followed by a cabinet meeting Monday, to pave the way for five serving ministers to resign and make way for Congress MLAs who feel sidelined, sources in the state government told ThePrint.

Sources close to his father, former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, insisted that Kumaraswamy won’t resign even if a few more legislators quit, and is preparing to face the no-confidence motion when the assembly convenes on 12 July.

The ministers expected to resign include three Congress leaders — urban development minister U.T. Khader, social welfare minister Priyank Kharge and rural development and panchayati raj minister Krishna Byre Gowda — and two JD(S) leaders.

The purpose of the expected resignations is to accommodate Congress legislators like Ramalinga Reddy, S.T. Somashekar and B.C. Patil, who say they were sidelined during government formation. They have also accused JD(S) ministers of being “tardy” in releasing development funds to constituencies which are represented by Congress MLAs.

Tit-for-tat poaching

Kumaraswamy has been repeatedly threatening the BJP that if it indulges in Operation Kamala, he will also get some of its legislators to resign in a tit-for-tat poaching exercise. He has also claimed he’ll rope in at least five BJP MLAs in favour of the JD(S)-Congress government.

“We still do not know how many MLAs the CM will be able to pull from the BJP side. He has rather deep contacts in all parties and we cannot say for sure who has been in touch with him,” a JD(S) leader said on the condition of anonymity.

Sugar minister and Congress leader R.B. Thimmapur said BJP legislators are ready to leave the party if the situation turns critical.

“The Congress high command is in contact with them and has asked for their support over the phone. The BJP legislators assured us that they will support us when required,” he said.

Deve Gowda suggested resignation

Sources in the JD(S) confirmed that Deve Gowda had suggested to Kumarswamy that stepping down and going back to the people would be beneficial—it would help win back some of the sympathy they lost by blaming the BJP.

However, Kumarswamy is said to have told his father that he would return to Bengaluru and resolve the problem or be ready to face a floor test on 12 July,when the Karnataka assembly session begins.

Call to Sonia Gandhi

Another party source confirmed that Deve Gowda had telephoned Sonia Gandhi, with whom he shares a good rapport, seeking her intervention in sorting out the crisis. Gandhi is said to have communicated that the Congress will keep its promise of supporting Kumaraswamy as CM, but also suggested that a change of guard could save the government.

“It was a subtle indication on her part to Deve Gowda ji that JD(S) should be open to Mallikarjun Kharge being made CM, but no decision has been made yet,” the party leader told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.

But the Congress has also made a few decisions of its own — such as convincing only loyalists to come back to the party fold, and letting other rebel MLAs such as Ramesh Jarkiholi and A.H. Vishwanath to jump the BJP if they so wish.

President’s Rule?

Bengaluru-based political analyst Sandeep Shastri feels that if Kumaraswamy can’t tide over this trouble, Karnataka could be in for a spell of President’s Rule.

“If Kumaraswamy were to resign, I think the Governor would recommend President’s Rule. The BJP central leadership is no hurry to form the government in Karnataka now, as they know that if the state goes to elections at this time, they will win handsomely. The BJP will want to bide its time for now,” he said.