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Updated: Jul 09, 2019 20:17 IST

As the Congress fights to save its coalition government in Karnataka, the party’s leader in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday charged the BJP of orchestrating the resignation of MLAs and accused it of appointing chief ministers “in bars and restaurants”.

The Congress leader’s comments came after photos emerged of independent MLA H Nagesh, who quit the coalition government on Monday, barely a month after he was made minister, boarding a plane at the Bengaluru airport that flew him to Mumbai.

On the tarmac, Nagesh is seen in the photos with two men, one of whom is said to be the personal assistant of Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa. While the rank and file of the BJP have denied any involvement in the crisis in the Karnataka government, the Congress says that the photographs at the Bengaluru airport were proof the saffron party’s meddling.

“There is a BJP hand in the Karnataka crisis. Yeddyurappa’s PA was in the plane with rebel MLAs. BJP appoints Chief Ministers in bars and restaurants. They have done this before in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh,” Azad told reporters outside Parliament.

A total of 13 MLAs have flown to Mumbai since the resignation drama began last weekend,

Azad will be heading for Bengaluru to salvage the situation for the Congress after another MLA Roshan Baig submitted his resignation on Tuesday.

Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s embattled government got a breather on Tuesday with Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar’s office saying the resignation letters by 8 MLAs of the 13 MLAs were not in the prescribed format and would have to be submitted afresh.

Kumar also scheduled appointments on July 12 and 15 with five of the 13 MLAs to talk about their resignation letters.