Siddaramaiah expresses anger towards Parameshwara

Bengaluru: As the Karnataka political crisis enters its fourth day on Tuesday, former chief minister Siddaramaiah expressing his anger towards Deputy CM G Parameshwara said, “Reddy is the senior-most MLA from Bengaluru. I have always told Parameshwara to discuss with him while taking any decision related to Bengaluru. But he did not listen to me and even told others that he is also a senior leader and does not need guidance from Ramalinga Reddy.”

Ramalinga Reddy’s resignation had come as a shock since he had been one of the senior-most Congress leaders and longtime loyalist of the party. Congress had felt that if he could be placated, the crisis could have been averted.

Addressing pressperson here on Tuesday morning Siddaramaiah said that his party was confident that the crisis will end and that the rebels will return.

However, Jayanagar MLA Soumya Reddy, daughter of rebel MLA Ramalinga Reddy attended the Congress Legislative Party meeting today, after she met Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi yesterday.

Karnataka’s year-old Congress-Janata Dal (S) coalition government is on the brink of collapse after the spate of resignations by the MLAs.

The Karnataka Assembly has 225 members, including one nominated MLA. The halfway mark in the 225-member assembly is 113.

Before the latest spate of resignations, the Congress had 78 MLAs, the JD(S) 37 and the BJP 105. The Congress-JD(S) coalition effectively had the support of 119 MLAs in an Assembly where the halfway mark was 113.