Kumaraswamy meets Ramalinga Reddy in Bengaluru

With Karnataka in the throes of a political crisis, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy met dissenting Congress MLA Ramalinga Reddy on Monday.

According to sources, the meeting took place at an undisclosed location in the city.

The 13-month-old Karnataka coalition government of JD(S) and Congress slumped into crisis following the resignation of their 11 MLAs from the membership of the state Assembly on Saturday.

JD(S) MLA H Vishwanath had on Saturday claimed that 14 MLAs have jointly tendered their resignations to Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar and requested him to accept them.

With the dramatic turn of events, Kumaraswamy had to cut short his US visit and return to Bengaluru on Sunday, as the state government appears to have fallen into a minority.

Apart from Reddy, who is considered to be a senior Congressman, Anand Singh, Ramesh Jarkiholi, BC Patil, H Vishwanath, Narayan Gowda, S Hebbar, Mahesh Kumatalli, Gopalayya, and Pratap Gowda Patil also tendered their resignations. However, the Speaker is yet to accept the resignations.

As many as 10 of the rebel MLAs are believed to be housed in Mumbai's Sofitel hotel.