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Lok Sabha elections 2019: Karnataka Congress’ rebel MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi confirms exit from party
The members of legislative assembly (MLAs) skipped crucial Congress Legislature Party meetings in January and February, prompting it to initiate action against them under anti-defection laws.
Congress’ rebel leader in Karnataka Ramesh Jarkiholi has confirmed he will resign as the legislator soon even as the party said it will not hold negotiation with him any more.
Dissidents led by Jarkiholi have been threatening the party with resignation for over six months now. In December, Jarkiholi had gone “missing”, along with three other legislators – Mahesh Kumathahalli, B Nagendra and Umesh Jadhav.
The members of legislative assembly (MLAs) skipped crucial Congress Legislature Party meetings in January and February, prompting it to initiate action against them under the anti-defection laws.
Subsequently, in March, Jadhav quit the party and is currently the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate against Congress stalwart Mallikarjun Kharge in the Gulbarga constituency.
Also read: Karnataka rebel Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav resigns, may join BJP
“I will respond to the people… Nobody from the party has spoken to me at all,” Jarkiholi said while speaking to reporters after casting his vote in Gokak in Belagavi district on Tuesday.
He said since 1999 the party has become divided with caste-based factions coming in.
“Today, this has crossed all limits. I have said that I will resign, I have to only decide when I will do this,” he said.
The Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance government in the state has faced a turbulent time since it came to power in the state on May 23, 2018, after the state assembly elections.
Jadhav’s resignation and the death of another MLA, CS Shivalli, in March brought down the effective strength of the Congress-JD(S) coalition to 117 (79 from the Congress, including the Speaker, 37 from the JD-S, and one from the Bahujan Samaj Party). With 104 MLAs, the BJP is still short of the 113-seat mark for a simple majority in the 224-member House by nine seats.
Responding to Jarkiholi’s statement, president of the Congress’ state unit Dinesh Gundu Rao said the party would take a call when Jarkiholi takes a decision.
“We always supported Jarkiholi. We even made him a minister in the current government. So, he cannot claim that injustice has been meted out to him. We are past the stage of negotiations because this has gone on for too long,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) state general secretary N Ravikumar said they have not held any talks with Jarkiholi.
“I heard that he said he would quit, but no talks have been held with him. Of course, should he chooses to join the BJP after resigning we will welcome him. This government is going to crumble soon after the Lok Sabha results on May 23,” he said.
The parties have no respite even though polling in the state for the Lok Sabha elections concluded on Tuesday.
The by-elections to the assembly seats of Chincholi, formerly represented by Jadhav, and Kundgol, which fell vacant after Shivalli’s death, will be held on May 19, the results of which will also come out on May 23.
