As the Congress party only won two seats in the Karnataka byelections, senior party leader Siddaramaiah tendered his resignation as Leader of the Legislative Party. He also resigned as the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly.
He sent his resignation of party president Sonia Gandhi.
“As a leader of the legislative party, I need to respect democracy. I have resigned as Congress Legislative Party leader. I have submitted my resignation to Sonia Gandhi,” said Siddaramaiah on his decision.
Siddaramaiah further said that he will be sending a copy of his resignation to senior Congress leader KC Venugopal and the KPCC president.
“I had expected that the voters might vote against the disqualified MLAs, who sold themselves. I thought they will be punished and I had expected this to happen. My expectations have gone wrong,” he added.
“We have to agree with the mandate of the voters of these 15 constituencies. People have accepted the defectors. We have accepted defeat, I don’t think we have to be disheartened,” Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar said on Monday.
The BJP on Monday scored a major victory in Karnataka Assembly bypolls and extended its wafer-thin majority in the 224-member House by winning 12 of the 15 seats that went to polls.
The counting of votes for 15 assembly seats in Karnataka, where bypolls were held on December 5, was conducted on Monday.
The bypolls for 15 assembly segments were being held following the disqualification of the MLAs from the Congress and the JD(S) which led to the collapse of the coalition government of HD Kumaraswamy.
The BJP needed to win at least six seats to maintain its majority in the House.
After the fall of the HD Kumaraswamy government in July this year, BJP’s BS Yediyurappa formed the government with the help of his party’s 105 MLAs and one Independent legislator.
After the results of bypolls to 15 assembly seats is declared, the strength of the House will again reach 222 and the BJP would need 112 MLAs to retain its majority. The BJP would only be able to keep the numbers in its favour if it is able to get at least six of the 15 seats currently under grab.
Source: dnaindia.com