Bengaluru, (DHNS): Six JD(S) rebel MLAs resigned on Saturday and are likely to join the Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi in Mysuru on Sunday.

While Ramesh Bandisiddegowda (Srirangapatna MLA) tendered his resignation to Speaker K B Koliwad on Friday, Zameer Ahmed Khan (Chamarajpet), N Cheluvarayaswamy (Nagamangala), Akhanda Srinivasmurthy (Pulakeshinagar), Bheema Naik (Hagaribommanahalli), Iqbal Ansari (Gangavathi) and H C Balakrishna (Magadi) resigned on Saturday.

The rebel MLAs had voted in favour of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha polls held on Friday.

Koliwad said the MLAs had resigned on their own volition. The Speaker also said that the disqualification case pending before him had nothing to do with the resignations.

The JD(S) had petitioned the Speaker to disqualify the MLAs after they flouted the party whip and voted in favour of the Congress's Rajya Sabha candidate K C Ramamurthy in the 2016 elections.

After the schedule for the 2018 Rajya Sabha election was announced, the JD(S) had urged the Speaker to dispose of the case to ensure that the rebel MLAs did not indulge in cross-voting again.

However, the Speaker reserved his orders, forcing the JD(S) to move the high court, seeking disqualification of the MLAs.

Koliwad reiterated that he needs more time to dispose of the petition.

"I have to merge the initial petition with the fresh petitions and look into the matter. This will require some more time. How I close the case is left to me," he added.

Three disgruntled former JD(S) MLCs - M C Nanaiah, Sarovar Srinivas and B Ramakrishna - are also joining the Congress on Sunday.