Siddaramaiah, Gundu Rao quit, K’taka Cong in turmoil

Minutes after the results of the bypolls to 15 segments, in which the BJP won the lion’s share of 12, they tendered their resignations to Congress president Sonia Gandhi

BENGALURU: leader Siddaramaiah and Congress’ Karnataka chief Dinesh Gundu Rao quit their posts on Monday after their party put up a poor show in the Assembly by-elections, throwing the state unit into a turmoil.

Minutes after the results of the bypolls to 15 segments, in which the BJP won the lion’s share of 12, they tendered their resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi owning moral responsibility for not being able to give “satisfactory results.” In a huge setback, the Congress could win only two out of 15 seats whereas it had previously held 12 of them.

In his letter to Sonia Gandhi, Siddaramaiah, a former Chief Minister and senior party leader, expressed regret for not being able to give “satisfactory results” in the bypolls despite his sincere efforts.

“I deem it necessary to step down as Leader of CLP by taking moral responsibility,” he wrote.

“As a CLP leader, there is a need to uphold the democratic principles. In the interest of the party, I have tendered my resignation as CLP leader,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.

Giving a similar explanation, Rao too said minutes later he has also resigned.

Rao said he arrived at a conclusion soon after the exit poll results on December 5 showed landslide victory for BJP in the by-elections. “I too owe a lot of moral and politi

I had discussed with our Delhi based leaders about our party’s poor prospects in the byelection and if something goes awry, I will have to take decision accordingly,” Rao said.

The ruling BJP on Monday swept the Assembly by-polls in Karnataka winning 12 of the 15 seats to help the four-month-old Yediyurappa government retain majority, in a morale booster for the saffron party after its recent setback in Maharashtra.

The BJP sweep had an immediate fallout in the opposition Congress with its Legislature Party leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah and State Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao quitting their posts. The Congress’ poor showing winning only two seats, as against the 12 it held of the 15 which went to the by-polls, threw the state unit into a turmoil. The bypolls were held on December 5.

The by-polls were considered a litmus test for the BJP government as it needed to win at least six of the 15 seats at stake to remain in majority in the 225-member assembly. Congress ally JD(S) drew a blank.

The BJP’S tally goes up from 105 (including an independent) to 117, which is well ahead of the halfway mark of 111 in the 223-member Assembly (two seats -- Maski and R R Nagar -- are vacant due to pending litigation in the High Court).

Turncoats had a field day as 11 of the 13 in the fray after joining the BJP emerged victorious, as the ruling party’s gamble to field the defectors from the Congress and the JD(S) who helped them come to power paid off.

The Congress managed to win only Hunsur and Shivajinagar seats, while independent candidate Sharath Bachegowda, who was earlier expelled from the BJP for anti-party activities after he contested the bypoll as a rebel, won in Hoskote.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S) that had won three seats in the previous elections--k R Pete, Mahalakshmi Layout and Hunsur-drew a blank. The by-polls were held to fill the vacancies caused by the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAS, whose revolt led to the collapse of the 14-month-old H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July and paved the way for the BJP to come to power. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa won the confidence motion on July 29 after the effective strength of the 225-member assembly (including the Speaker who has a casting vote) came down to 208 and the majority mark to 105, equivalent of BJP’S current strength, following the disqualifications.