Eight of the 13 resignations not in order: Karnataka Speaker

Karnataka Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar appeared to be in no hurry to take a decision on the resignation of 13 Congress and JD(S) MLAs saying eight of the resignations were not in order and five have been called for discussions.

Talking to reporters, he said he has given the five MLAs, whose resignations are in order, two days time to present themselves before him.

He said none of the 13 MLAs had met him to give their resignations.

The Speaker also said he has received a petition from Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramiah seekig disqualification of the dissident MLAs.

Kumar also questioned the communication from Governor Vajubhai Vala asking him to accept the resignations of the MLAs and the ministers who have quit the government.

"I have written to Governor Vajubhai Vala that none of the rebel MLAs have met me. Governor has assured me that he will uphold the constitution," Kumar said.

He said that out of 13 resignations put forth by the lawmakers, eight were not according to the law.

"I have given them time to present themselves before me," Kumar said and added, "There is one petition on the disqualification of four MLAs pending in my office, I will act on it."

The Speaker said that the Governor wrote back to him, claiming that Independent lawmaker H Nagesh has resigned. "There is nothing I can do about the Ministers. I do not know why the Governor wrote to me. It is left to the Independent MLAs to decide who they will back on the floor of the house," Kumar said.

Kumar said that the Congress told him that R Shankar has merged with their party.

"If it was done as per the rules, there is no issue. There is no need for investigation. I have all the documents. I will give it to you," the Speaker added.

The 13-month old Congress-JDS government slumped into crisis following the resignation of 11 MLAs from the membership of the state Assembly on Saturday.

Earlier today, Congress leader Roshan Baig resigned from his membership of state Assembly.

"All JD(S) ministers have resigned, like the 21 Congress ministers who had resigned," tweeted the CMO from their official Twitter account.

JDS rebel MLA H Vishwanath had said that 14 MLAs have jointly tendered their resignations to Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar and requested him to accept them.

Among the MLAs who resigned are Ramalinga Reddy, Anand Singh, Ramesh Jarkiholi, B C Patil, H Vishwanath, Narayan Gowda, S Hebbar, Mahesh Kumatalli, Gopalayya, and Pratap Gowda Patil. However, the Speaker is yet to accept the resignations.

-ANI

Also Read: Ghulam Nabi Azad, BK Hariprasad tasked to tackle Karnataka crisis