Bengaluru: In a fresh setback to the JD(S)-Congress government in Karnataka, two Congress MLAs on Monday resigned from the state Assembly, bringing down the party’s strength in the House to 77.
The two MLAs who have resigned are Anand Singh who represented Vijaynagara in Ballari and Ramesh Jarkiholi who was elected from Gokak in Belagavi.
“I met the Governor and tendered my resignation, I gave a copy to him. I will give a copy to the Legislative Assembly speaker as well. I am not hungry for power,” Singh told reporters after meeting the Governor.
Singh said he resigned because CM Kumaraswamy had signed a deal with the Jindal South West Holding Ltd (JSW Steel), the Mumbai-headquartered company, despite his and other leaders repeated protests.
“I had earlier said that if JSW steel had got a lease-cum-steel deal then I would resign. This is against the interest of the state. I had requested the government not to go ahead with it. The government’s responsibility was to ensure and uphold the interests of the people,” he said.
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With the Speaker claiming he has not got any resignation, Singh clarified that he had sent a copy of his resignation to the Speaker. “I will tender my resignation again to the Speaker if he has not got it yet.”
The coalition led by the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) now have the support of 117 members – 77 of the Congress, 37 of the JD(S), one of the Bahujan Samaj Party and two independent MLAs. The Bharatiya Janata Party has 105 members, while the majority mark is 113.