Much to the displeasure of the old guard in the Congress and the JD(S), the coalition government on Friday, 14 June, inducted two independent MLAs into the Karnataka Cabinet. The two independent MLAs, R Shankar and H Nagesh, were sworn in as Cabinet-rank ministers by Governor Vajubhai Vala at the Raj Bhavan.
Shankar had served as a minister during the initial days of the Kumaraswamy government, but he was dropped from the Cabinet in December 2018. Following that, in January this year, the two wrote to the Governor, and withdrew their support to the coalition government.
According to senior Congress leaders, giving Cabinet berths to the independents instead of the senior leaders is part of the alliance’s attempt to stop BJP’s attempts to poach their MLAs.
Of the total of 34 ministerial positions in Karnataka, the Congress and the JD(S) have share of 22 and 12, respectively. Out of these, three seats – two for the JD(S) and one for the Congress – were vacant. The two were inducted from the JD(S) and the Congress’ share in the Cabinet.
Posting to Avoid Poaching
After winning 25 out of the 28 parliamentary seats in Karnataka, the BJP is in a strong position. As a result, the party is expected to poach coalition MLAs in yet another attempt to topple the government. Since the formation of the government, the BJP has attempted thrice to bring it down.
The BJP currently has 105 MLAs with them and the number required to form the government is 113 ( halfway mark + 1) However, if they can bring down the total strength of the Assembly from 224 to 208, by making 16 MLAs resign from their posts, the number required to form the government would drop to 105.
However, if the two independents join the BJP, the party’s total number would go up to 107. This would mean that they would require only 12 MLAs to resign from the government.
Since the anti-defection bill is not applicable to independent MLAs, and these two defecting would bring down the number of MLAs needed to be poached, the two independents are considered key for the BJP. “The party believes that keeping the independent loyal to the alliance would affect BJP’s poaching plans,” said a senior KPCC office bearer.
The Unhappy Old Guard
Although alliance partners consider this decision to be crucial for the government’s stability, not everyone is happy. Several senior leaders in the both parties, who had expressed their displeasure over not getting a Cabinet berth, are expected to come out against the party’s decision in the coming days.
On 4 June, JD(S) state party president VH Vishwanath had abruptly resigned from the post. Although he claimed the party’s failure in parliamentary election as the reason for his resignation, according to sources, the resignation was a protest against being sidelined in the government.
On the same day, senior Congress leaders and former home minister Ramalinga Reddy had accused the party of neglecting senior Congress leaders. “Today’s situation is the result of having laid out a red carpet for newbies and immigrants who know nothing, both in the party as well as in the government. Seniors should be given place in the government so that the existing internal imbalance is addressed,” he had written in a Facebook post.
Hours later, another Congress leader Roshan Baig also chimed in with his support saying, “I agree with Ramalinga Reddy. Seniors are being sidelined, we should hold discussions. We can't be mute spectators to what's happening here. Senior leaders like Ramalinga Reddy and me are being sidelined.”
No More Incentives for the Disgruntled
As of now, the BJP has been watching the political developments instead of attempting to topple the government. BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa in a statement had said that the BJP would wait for the alliance to fall on its own.
This is indeed a concern for the coalition. Since two of the three Cabinet vacancies were given to the independents, they have little to offer the disgruntled MLAs to prevent them from defecting. Congress leaders like Ramesh Jarkiholi have already announced his intention to join the BJP and has claimed there were other Congress MLAs ready to join him.
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