Cong hopes disqualification fear may win back other MLAs, making BJP job difficult
Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar on Thursday disqualified two Congress rebel MLAs and an Independent legislator and said he will take a couple of days to decide the fate of 14 other rebel Congress lawmakers.
Kumar said members disqualified under the anti-defection law cannot contest or get elected to the Assembly till the end of the term of the House.
The Congress leaders are keenly watching the reactions of the other rebel MLAs to the Speaker’s decision to expel the three MLAs who chose to skip the vote of trust motion in the Assembly. Congress leaders hope that some of the MLAs may come back to their fold to escape expulsion, thus making it difficult for the BJP to stake claim for the Government formation.
The Speaker said he was convinced that the resignations by the three members were not voluntary and genuine and he had therefore rejected them and proceeded to disqualify them under the anti-defection law.
“They have violated the provisions of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law) and therefore are disqualified,” he said.
The Speaker’s announcement came two days after the Congress-JD(S) coalition Government headed by HD Kumaraswamy collapsed as it lost the trust vote in the Assembly against the backdrop of the rebellion by a section of their MLAs.
The coalition had needed 103 votes in its favour to win the motion as 20 MLAs Congress-JDS (17), BSP (1), Independents (2) skipped proceedings, reducing the effective strength of the House to 205.
In Delhi, a group of Karnataka BJP leaders, including Jagdish Shettar, Arvind Limbavali, Madhuswamy, Basavaraj Bommai and Yeddyurappa’s son Vijayendra, met Amit Shah as they discussed the development in the State and explored the options ahead for the party.
The State needs to pass the Finance Bill before July 31. Sources said if a Government is not in place before the month end, then imposition of President’s rule may be a constitutional necessity for the passage of the Bill, which is why the BJP is also consulting legal experts.
Meanewhile, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday rubbished reports that he had instigated the rebels to resign and destabilise the coalition Government headed by Kumaraswamy.
Cautioning media houses against peddling “false news”, Siddaramaiah said he would give them a befitting reply if they repeat the allegation in front of him. In a series of tweets, the he said the rebels were trying to “shift the blame on me but the facts would surface once the dust settles.”
“Media houses are reporting that a few rebel MLAs have claimed that I instigated them to resign and destabilise our Government. This is nothing but a false allegation with malafide intention. I will give them a befitting reply if they repeat the same in front of me,” Siddaramaiah said.
He said, “The rebel MLAs are trying to shift the blame on me after widespread public backlash against them for betraying and back-stabbing both the electorate and the party. Everything will be clear when the dust settles but by then they would have bitten the dust.” Recalling his days as Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah said there were many baseless allegations against him — “a venom he digested to serve people with good intent.”
“Time will answer everything! Satyameva Jayathe!!” Siddaramaiah said. As the coordination committee chairman of the coalition Government, Siddaramaiah was charged with not letting the JD(S) and the Congress State presidents to be part of the penal led by him.
JD(S) State president-turned-rebel MLA AH Vishwanath had been targeting Siddaramaiah for not bringing out the common minimum programme as agreed upon by the two parties at the time of forming the coalition Government.
Vishwanath had also charged him with betraying JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda by making him trust the Congress during the Lok Sabha election and then working for his defeat from the Tumkur constituency at the fag end of his political career.