From correspondents in Delhi, India, 09:00 PM IST

Karnataka continues to be a headache for the Congress party. After it lost the assembly elections to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party seems to be facing the highest number of defections from the state.

Although there were rumours about possible cross-voting by R.L. Jalappa and Tejaswini Gowda, both have turned up at 10 Janpath. But three others - A. Venkatesh Naik, M.H. Ambareesh and N.Y. Hanumanthappa - have not arrived for a parade before party president Sonia Gandhi.

Congress leaders swear that the trio would definitely vote in favour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government in the July 22 trust vote. But the opposition BJP claims that it has already wooed the Congress MPs, who were assured of seats in the next elections. The truth will come out only Tuesday.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)