Fourteen Karnataka MLAs of the Congress and the Janta Dal (Secular) quit their parties on Saturday and met governor Vajubhai Vala, putting the alliance government in the state in peril.

Earlier in the morning, there were reports that 11 MLAs had resigned - 8 from the Congress and 3 from the JD(S). The quitting of 11 MLAs was confirmed by the Karnataka Speaker, but later in the day JD(S) MLA A.H. Vishwanath, after meeting the governor, said 14 Congress-JD(S) MLAs had submitted their resignation to Speaker so far.

The survival of the 13-month-old government is in question in the 224-member House. The JD(S)-Congress coalition's total strength, including those who have put in their papers, was 118 (Congress-78, JD(S)-37, BSP-1 and Independents-2), besides the Speaker. The BJP has 105 MLAs in the House and the half-way mark is 113. If 14 MLAs have indeed quit, according to the claim of the JD(S), the coalition strength falls to 104, one less than the BJP.

The JD(S) leaders who quit said that the BJP had no role to play in their decision. They said they were dissatisfied with the coalition in Karnataka.

The Congress MLAs seen at the Speaker's office are Ramesh Jarkiholi, Pratap Gowda Patil, Shivram Hebbar, Mahesh Kumathalli, B.C. Patil, Byratibasavaraj, S.T. Soma Shekar and Ramalinga Reddy of the Congress. The JD(S) MLAs are A.H. Vishwanath, who recently resigned as the party's state chief, Narayana Gowda, and Gopalaiah.

As a last-ditch bid, Congress minister D.K. Shivakumar is supposed to have met the legislators and tried to convince them to stay on.

Earlier this week, another Congress MLA, Anand Singh, submitted his resignation to the Speaker.

Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar, who was not in his office when the legislators went there, confirmed the resignations and said 'whether the government will fall or survive' would be decided 'in the Assembly'. It is unclear if the resignations have been accepted by the Speaker.

The Speaker told reporters: 'Eleven of them have submitted resignation letters. I told officials to take the letters and issue acknowledgement.... On Tuesday I will go to office and take further action in accordance with rules.'

Asked about the future of the government, Kumar said: 'Let's wait and see, I have nothing to do with it... Whether the government will fall or survive, it will be decided in the Assembly...'

The ruling coalition leaders had expressed fear that the BJP would try to destabalise the government after the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress and the JD(U) managed to win just one seat each in the state that has 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. The BJP bagged 25 seats.