Karnataka MLAs camping at a hotel in Mumbai may skip the confidence motion moved by the southern state's Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on July 18, PTI quoted sources as saying.
The Karnataka rebel MLAs in Mumbai are unlikely to fly to Bengaluru on Thursday when the Congress-JD(S) government would face the floor test, a source involved in coordinating the stay of the legislators here said.
The MLAs staying at the Mumbai luxury hotel have submitted their resignations to the Assembly Speaker. They do not see any reason to be present at the floor test as they are firm on their resignations, the source said, adding that three to four more Karnataka MLAs are likely to switch to BJP but won't be coming to Mumbai.
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Meanwhile, the rebel Karnataka MLAs staying at the Mumbai hotel wrote to the city police chief, saying they don't want to meet Mallikarjun Kharge or any other Congress leader.
There were speculations that Kharge, some other senior Congress leaders and Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy may visit the hotel in Powai where the rebel legislators are put up.
In the letter to Mumbai police chief, the rebel MLAs said they have "absolutely no intention of meeting Mallikarjun Kharge or Ghulam Nabi Azad or any other Congress dignitary".
The MLAs said they feel threatened and requested the police to stop any Congress leader from meeting them.
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Fifteen rebel MLAs from Karnataka, including those of the Congress, JD(S) and Independents, are staying at the hotel.
The coalition government is on a shaky wicket with 16 MLAs -- 13 of the Congress and three of the JD(S) resigning their assembly membership.
Besides, two independent legislators, who were made ministers recently to provide stability, have quit the ministry and withdrawn support.
The coalition leaders received a major jolt Sunday morning as Nagaraj, with whom they had held day-long talks on Saturday in a bid to woo him back to save the government, flew to Mumbai and joined the rebel MLAs camped there.
After reaching Mumbai, Nagaraj, speaking to reporters, made it clear that there was no question of withdrawing his resignation and that he was "firm" on the decision.
The ruling coalition's total strength is 116 (Congress-78, JD(S)-37 and BSP-1), besides the Speaker.
With the support of the two independents, the BJP has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where the half-way mark is 113. If the resignations of the 16 MLAs are accepted, the coalition's tally will be reduced to 100.
(With Agency Inputs)
