Congress leader DK Shivakumar on Monday claimed that independent MLA H Nagesh, who has resigned as a minister from the state government, called him and said he has been hijacked by senior BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa's personal assistant (PA).
"Nagesh called me and said he has been hijacked by Yeddyurappa's PA. I rushed to the airport. By the time I reached there, he was taken away as I was five minutes late," said Shivakumar.
On asked if he will take any action against Yeddyurappa's PA, Shivakumar said: "Why should I take any action against PAs. They all are jokers. We will fight with the political leaders of the state. If our MLAs come back, we will share power as we believe in sharing and caring."
He said that his party's General Secretaries and presidents are "crying that they are being used."
"I am ready to face anything. There is nothing left to me. I am ready to sacrifice my chair anytime they want. The bureaucrats are very sincere people. I believe in law, love, and respect," he said.
Nagesh's resignation comes less than a month after he was inducted as a minister, along with R Shankar, another Independent MLA.
Earlier in the day, he wrote two letters to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala in quick succession. In one, he announced the withdrawal of support to Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy government, and in another letter, he stated that he is ready to extend support to the BJP government in the state if it is formed.
The 13-month old Congress-JDS government slumped into crisis following the resignation of 11 MLAs from the membership of the state Assembly on Saturday.
JDS rebel MLA H Vishwanath had said that 14 MLAs have jointly tendered their resignations to Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar and requested him to accept them.
Among the MLAs who resigned are Ramalinga Reddy, Anand Singh, Ramesh Jarkiholi, BC Patil, H Vishwanath, Narayan Gowda, S Hebbar, Mahesh Kumatalli, Gopalayya, and Pratap Gowda Patil. However, the Speaker is yet to accept the resignations.
( With inputs from ANI )