BJP MLC Prasad Lad outside hotel where rebel K'taka MLAs are staying

Mumbai: BJP MLC Prasad Lad arrived outside Sofitel Mumbai BKC hotel here where 10 Karnataka Congress-JD(S) MLAs, who flew to Mumbai by coalition strategists in a bid to convince them to reconsider their decision, are staying.

On being asked about the political situation in Karnataka, Prasad Lad said, " I know about it only through media. I am busy with the party membership drive."

In a move that virtually spells the end of the shaky 13-month-old Janata Dal (S)-Congress Karnataka government if not the coalition itself, three JD(S) and nine Congress MLAs resigned from the Assembly, catching the leadership of both the parties by surprise on Saturday. The troubled ruling coalition faces the risk of losing majority if the resignations are accepted.

The drama unfolded a day before Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s return from a holiday in the US on Sunday evening. Unconfirmed reports suggest that a Cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday could be advanced to Monday evening to recommend dissolution of the Assembly.

The monsoon session of the Assembly is scheduled to commence on July 12.

The three senior JD(S) legislators who resigned are A.H. Vishwanath who had been replaced as the state unit president only days before, JD(S) senior vice- president and Mahalaxmi Layout MLA K. Gopalaiah and Narayana Gowda.

Those from the Congress who resigned include former minister R. Ramalinga Reddy, who is upset over being denied a berth in the Cabinet, former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who made way for his sibling in a reshuffle in 2018, Mahesh Kumathalli, Pratap-gouda Patil, Munirathna, Bhairati Basavaraj, S.T. Somashekhar, Shivaram Hebbar and B C.Patil.