Karnataka Cong MLA Ramalinga Reddy says he will withdraw resignation, vote in favour of govt
Bengaluru, Jul 17: In some relief to the embattled coalition government in Karnataka, Congress MLA Ramalinga Reddy Wednesday said he has decided to withdraw his resignation from the assembly and will vote in favour of the trust vote to be sought by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
I will take part in the assembly session tomorrow and vote in favour of the party. I will continue to remain in the party and serve as MLA, he told PTI here.
Reddy, a former minister, is among the 13 Congress and three JDS MLAs who have tendered their resignations while two independent legislators have withdrawn their support to the 14-month old Kumaraswamy government, leaving it tottering on the brink of collapse.
The survival of the Congress-JD(S) government hangs precariously on the eve of the trust vote with the Supreme Court Wednesday holding that the 15 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs, who had moved it, cannot be compelled to participate in the proceedings of the ongoing assembly session.
While most of the rebel MLAs have been staying in Mumbai, Reddy chose to be in the city amid reports that Congress was trying to pacify him.
The party had also left him out while moving the Assembly Speaker for disqualification of the rebel MLAs, saying he was an "exception."
Reddy too had maintained he would remain in Congress and he has resigned only from the assembly.
Hours ahead of the floor test Thursday, Reddy said he would withdraw his resignation letter submitted to the Speaker on July 6.
The other rebel MLAs camping in Mumbai said there was no question of stepping back on their resignations or attending the session.
If the resignations of the 15 MLAs are accepted or if they stay away from the assembly, the ruling coalition's tally will plummet to 102, reducing the government to a minority.
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Kolkata Port: Decline in number of voters during SIR brings in uncertainty in TMC bastion
Kolkata (PTI): A sharp decline in the number of voters following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has injected an element of uncertainty into the Kolkata Port Assembly constituency, considered a safe seat for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The electorate in the south Kolkata constituency has dropped from 2.36 lakh in the 2021 Assembly polls to around 1.75 lakh, a fall of nearly 26 per cent, prompting political parties to closely assess its potential impact on the April 29 polling.
The TMC re-nominated senior minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, who has held the seat for two consecutive terms, while the BJP fielded Rakesh Singh. The Congress nominated Aquib Gulzar, and the CPI(M) put up Faiyaz Ahmad Khan, making it a four-cornered contest.
Kolkata Port, part of the Kolkata Dakshin parliamentary constituency, comprises dock areas, old business districts and densely populated neighbourhoods. Muslim voters form a significant segment of the electorate, alongside traders, transport workers and working-class Hindu families.
The reduction in voter numbers has prompted party workers across formations to scrutinise the revised rolls booth-wise to identify deletions and assess whether specific localities have been affected.
Singh’s candidature has added a twist to the contest. He had earlier contested against Hakim as a Congress candidate but is now in the fray on a BJP ticket.
Hakim won the seat in 2016 by 26,548 votes, defeating Singh, and increased his margin significantly to 68,554 votes in 2021, polling over one lakh votes.
While the TMC has expressed confidence in retaining the seat, opposition parties have raised concerns over the voter list revision, alleging that names of genuine voters have been removed.
“People here know who has stood by them. Elections are decided by trust,” Hakim told PTI during a campaign event.
Singh claimed several residents had complained about missing names in the rolls, stressing the need for transparency. The CPI(M) nominee also said voters in several areas had raised similar concerns.
The constituency has remained a difficult terrain for the opposition in recent elections.
Civic issues such as sanitation, traffic congestion and declining business activity in traditional markets also feature in the campaign in the constituency, though the revised voter list has emerged as a key talking point.
Polling in the constituency will be held in the second phase on April 29, with counting scheduled for May 4.
