Political mudslinging among the Janata Dal (Secular), or JDS, Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit its peak on Friday, sidelining the Karnataka budget—the actual agenda of the day.

The Congress finally ran out of patience and on Friday decided to act against four rebel members of legislative assembly (MLAs) to contain the threat the dissidents posed to the already fragile coalition government in the state.

Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and leader of the Congress legislature party, said that the party would take legal action under the stringent anti-defection law against the four missing MLAs—Ramesh Jarkiholi, B. Nagendra, Mahesh Kumathalli, and Umesh Jadhav—amid reports they were considering defecting to the BJP.