Karnataka Congress in charge KC Venugopal rushes to Bengaluru after 11 MLAs resign

Caught off guard, Karnataka Congress in charge, K C Venugopal, rushed to Bengaluru on Saturday after eight Congress and three Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) MLAs resigned from the Assembly, bringing the coalition government into a minority.

Meanwhile former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been tasked to contact the dissidents in the party.

According to sources, D K Shivakumar has also mounted efforts to convince the MLAs to come back.remain in the party fold.

The Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka appeared to have gone into a minority with 11 of the MLAs belonging to the two parties quitting the Assembly as the crisis deepened for the ruling dispensation.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who belongs to the JD(S), is away in the US and is expected to fly back here on Sunday.

With today's developments, the strength of the ruling coalition in Karnataka has come down to 105, which is eight short of the half-way mark of 113 for a majority.