Bengaluru, July 8: Hours after 21 Congress Ministers in Karnataka government submitted their resignations, 12 of the Janata Dal (Secular) also followed suit. With their exit, the path is cleared for a complete Cabinet overhaul, said Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. Crisis in Karnataka: 21 Congress Ministers Resign.

The Cabinet restructuring is aimed at pacifying the 13 rebels who had resigned last week expressing lack of confidence in the coalition government. Senior Congress leaders have claimed that 5-6 legislators in the rebel camp are likely to return.

"All ministers from JD(S) have submitted their resignations just like the 21 ministers from Congress. Cabinet reshuffle will happen soon," said the statement issued by Karnataka CMO.

CM of Karnataka's Tweet:

So far, 10 Congress MLAs and 4 JD(S) counterparts have submitted their resignations to the Speaker's Office. Their resignations are yet to be accepted.

If their exit is confirmed, the effective strength of Karnataka assembly will drop to 211, and that of the Congress-JD(S) combine would come down to 105 -- one below the halfway majority mark.

Notably, the BJP, which is the single-largest party in the assembly, also has 105 MLAs. The party has called upon the Governor to allow them to stake claim for government formation if the resignation of rebel MLAs is accepted.

"BS Yeddyurappa will be the next Chief Minister if BJP comes to power," said senior party leader DV Sadananda Gowda, while adding that they have no role in engineering the defections.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 08, 2019 04:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).