Bengaluru: All eyes are on the Karnataka Assembly as it reconvenes on Monday (July 15).

A stormy session is expected as the HD Kumaraswamy government is on weak ground, as close to 18 MLAs have resigned in the coalition government.

While the session is on, Karnataka Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar is the cynosure. He is yet to accept the resignations tendered and is slated to meet top Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy (Congress MLA from BTM Layout) this afternoon at 3. Additionally, he is also slated to meet Gopalaiah (JD(S) MLA from Mahalakshmi Layout).

A volley of Congress leaders including ex-MP from Kalaburagi Mallikarjun Kharge, water resources minister in the Kumaraswamy cabinet DK Shivakumar rushed to Ramalinga Reddy’s farmhouse in Chandapura in Bengaluru to pacify him. However, he seems to have stuck to his guns, saying he won’t relent.

The game plan is that if Ramalinga Reddy relents, three of his close aides (Congress MLAs Muniratna, Somashekar and Bhyrati Basavaraj) would also relent and return to the party fold, but it might not work out since as many as five MLAs have approached the Supreme Court, on the issue of the Speaker not accepting their resignations. The top court has agreed to hear the plea, in conjunction with the other case pertaining to the Speaker’s role in accepting resignations.

Another important development is the decision of the Speaker to set a date for the vote of confidence for the ruling coalition to undergo.

Though Kumaraswamy had openly announced his willingness to undergo the test, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) had dithered to announce a date, as BS Yeddyurappa, the leader of opposition was not in attendance when it met on Saturday (July 13). In all likelihood, the BAC which will meet today, will set July 17 as the date for the trust vote.

Meanwhile, the BJP will prevail upon the Speaker to ask Kumaraswamy to take up the trust vote on Monday.

The BJP is playing the wait-and-watch game. Sources say that the saffron party is not ready to rush things. It will apprise the high command and move the pawns as per its instructions.