Karnataka government: How more MLAs need to resign for BJP to form government

Bengaluru, July 02: There were more tremors for the ruling coalition in Karnataka following the resignation of two Congress MLAs.

The two MLAs of the Congress who resigned were Anand Singh and Ramesh Jarkiholi. Sources say more resignations are on the cards in the next couple of days. Congress MLAs, Mahesh Kumathalli, Pratap Gowda Patil and BC Patil are also expected to resign, the source also said.

Now the question is are these resignations enough for the BJP to form the government in Karnataka. With the anti-defection law, the BJP can form the government only if the strength of the House comes down further.

With the recent resignations, the strength of the JD(S)-Congress is 116. This means the magic number in the current House stands at 113.

For the BJP to be able to form the government, it would require the resignation of at least 11 more members. This would bring down the strength of the coalition from 116 to 105.

The BJP claims that it will get support from 8 more MLAs, two from the JD(S) and 6 from the Congress. The BJP would have pinned its hopes on the two Independents, but that is ruled out for now as they were inducted as ministers recently.

All parties are watching the developments closely. Chief Minister of Karnataka, H D Kumaraswamy who is in the US told Singh over phone to wait until July 8, when returns to Bengaluru. The coalition is also planning a counter poaching operation and is said to be in touch with 3 BJP MLAs.