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Updated: Jul 07, 2019 21:49 IST

Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy was forced to cut short his US visit and head home on Sunday to take stock of the growing political crisis in his coalition government with 12 MLA sending their resignations to the Assembly speaker on Saturday.

Straight after landing in Bengaluru this evening, Kumaraswamy got into a meeting with JD(S) national president HD Deve Gowda, Deputy CM G Parameshwara and other senior Congress leaders at the Taj West End hotel in the city.

Earlier in the day, Congress’s trusted troubleshooter DK Shivakumar met senior JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda at his residence.

A cirular has been issued by the Congress to all MLAs to attend Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting called by CLP leader Siddaramaiah on July 9. Karnataka Congress in charge KC Venugopal and Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao will also be present in the meet.

The Congress workers held a protest outside party office in the city asking Congress MLAs to take back their resignations.

“They’ve (JDS) called a meeting of their party leaders. We’ll also call our party leaders and sort out this issue. I’m confident things will cool down immediately. In interest of nation and both parties we’ve to run government smoothly. I’m confident MLAs will come back,” Congress’s Shivakumar was quoted as saying by ANI.

Out of the 12 legislators who submitted their resignations to Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, nine were from the Congress and three from the JD(S). The legislators were not able to meet the Speaker and left their resignations with his aides in his office.

The strength of the ruling coalition in Karnataka has come down to 105, which is eight short of the half-way mark of 113.

Also read: ‘Wait and watch’, says Yeddyurappa as Karnataka govt plunges into crisis

Responding to the developments, BJP state chief BS Yeddyurappa on Sunday said, “I am going to Tumkur and I will come back at 4 pm. You know about the political developments. Let’s wait and see. I do not want to answer to what HD Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah say. I am nowhere related to this.”

While senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said he wants the alliance government to continue. “We want that this should go on smoothly,” he said.

The differences in the ruling coalition government, which came together to forestall a BJP bid for power in the only southern state it has ever ruled, have been out in the open for quite sometime. Leaders of both the parties have been involved in war of words.

The Congress and JD(S) won just one Lok Sabha seat each in the Lok Sabha elections while the BJP won 25 of the 28 seats in the state.

(With agency inputs)