Amidst crisis, Kumaraswamy to chair cabinet meeting today

Amid the political upheaval in Karnataka, a meeting of the state Cabinet will be held on Thursday at Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru.

According to the Chief Minister's Office, the Cabinet meeting will have all the ministers as they have only submitted their resignations to their party presidents, not to Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

The meeting comes a day after Karnataka Water Minister DK Shivakumar, who went to Mumbai to meet the rebel MLAs staying at a hotel there, was detained by Mumbai Police and not allowed to meet the rebel MLAs.

Shivakumar, who returned to Bengaluru late on Wednesday, said it was a "matter of shame" that he was "forcefully deported" back to Bengaluru.

"Mumbai is known for its hospitality. I had booked a room there and was on an official visit to meet my friends and colleagues, but BJP and officials misused their authority. It's a matter of shame," Shivakumar told ANI here.

Soon after Shivakumar, rebel Karnataka Congress MLA ST Somashekar also returned to Bengaluru from Mumbai.

Somashekhar, who is the Chairman of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), is expected to attend a meeting of the BDA scheduled to take place later today.

"I have come back. I will be here in Bengaluru; I am not going back to Mumbai. I have resigned, (but) I am in Congress party," Somashekar told ANI after returning to Bengaluru.

Somashekar, along with nine other MLAs of Congress and JDS, was staying at the Renaissance - Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel.

Shivakumar had reached the hotel in Mumbai on Wednesday morning to pacify the rebel MLAs. He was, however, forced to sit outside the hotel after being denied entry. Later, Mumbai Police detained Shivakumar, Milind Deora and other Congressmen and kept them at Kalinga University rest house.

The 13-month old Congress-JD(S) government slumped into crisis following the resignation of 10 MLAs from the membership of the state Assembly last week. Congress' Roshan Baig and independent H Nagesh have also deserted the HD Kumaraswamy government.

The Congress has been accusing the BJP of conspiring to topple the coalition government in Karnataka. The ruling alliance is making all efforts to protect its government which seems to have fallen short of a majority.

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