india

Updated: Mar 04, 2019 23:39 IST

One of the four rebel ruling Congress lawmakers in Karnataka on Monday submitted his resignation to the state assembly speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, the latter confirmed. This is expected to pave the way for his entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Umesh Jadhav, the lawmaker, rebelled after he failed to get a ministerial berth when the Congress allied with the Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), to form the government in Karnataka in May 2018.

The two parties joined hands to keep the BJP out of power even as it emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in a 225-member assembly. The Congress managed to get 79 while the JD(S) got 37 seats. The ruling coalition, which includes the Bahujan Samaj Party, has 117 while the BJP-led Opposition has 106 members in the assembly.

A Congress leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the party fears the three other rebels — Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumathahalli and B Nagendra — might also quit the party.

The ruling coalition’s strength would be down to the halfway mark in the assembly — 113 — if the other three do so.

Repeated attempts to reach Jadhav went unanswered. However, speaking to the press, Ramesh Kumar said he had received the resignation and the matter would looked into.

“He came to my house [in Kolar district] to submit the resignation. Now I will speak to my officers and go about it based on the laws,” he said.

At present, a Congress petition is pending with Ramesh Kumar calling for the disqualification of the four rebel MLAs for not attending two Congress Legislature Party meetings and not attending the beginning of the state Budget session last month, violating a whip issued by the party in the process.

Congress leader Siddaramaiah, who is mononymous , said Jadhav has the freedom to resign.

“But as he violated the Congress’s whip, we petitioned to the Speaker for action [against Jadhav] under the anti-defection law. This matter is pending. As a result, the Speaker is the final authority and he will take a decision,” Siddaramaiah said.

State BJP vice-president, N Ravikumar, said Jadhav, a two-time lawmaker, would join his party.

“It is not confirmed yet that he will be the candidate for the party [BJP]. Talks are ongoing,” Ravikumar said when asked about reports that Jadhav could be the BJP’s candidate from Gulbarga against Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

Former Karnataka Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar said even if the MLAs are disqualified based on the Congress’s petition, it would mean that they would be disqualified from their membership of the House in the current term.

“This will not stop them either from contesting any election or from taking membership of another House,” Kumar said.

Karnataka Congress chief, Dinesh Gundu Rao, said Jadhav’s resignation was expected.

“He grew because of the Congress and we did not do any injustice to him. He betrayed the party for his selfish needs,” he said. “As far as I know, nobody else is planning to leave the party.”