HD Kumaraswamy to move trust vote on Thursday

Bengaluru: In what could signal an end to the ongoing political crisis in the state after as many as 16 ruling Congress and JD(S) MLAs resigned from the Assembly, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will move a confidence motion on Thursday in an attempt to prove that his 13-month old government still enjoys a majority in the House despite the withdrawal of support by so many legislators.

If the coalition’s efforts to get the rebel MLAs back on board fail in the next two days, the prospects of Mr Kumaraswamy winning the trust vote look pretty bleak as the numbers are stacked against him—the JD(S)-Congress combine will have the backing of only 100 MLAs (excluding the Speaker) as against the BJP’s 107 which includes the support of two Independent MLAs.

In the event of the CM failing to prove his majority, he will have to make his exit and the ball would be in the governor’s court. Mr Vajubhai Vala will then have the option of inviting the opposition BJP to form the government, said sources.  

Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar announced on Monday that the confidence motion sought to be moved by Mr Kumaraswamy, would be taken up at 11 am on July 18. The date has been fixed after consulting both opposition and ruling coalition leaders at the Business Advisory Comm-ittee meeting, Mr Kumar said and adjourned the Assembly till Thursday as demanded by the BJP.

The opposition party  maintained that the government has been reduced to a minority with a big chunk of MLAs quitting and hence opposed the conduct of House business till the trust vote though the government wanted to conduct business as usual. With BJP members warning that they would boycott Assembly proceedings if any business was conducted before the confidence vote was taken up, it was decided to adjourn the Assembly till Thursday, Mr Ramesh Kumar said.

Though the government wanted to wait only till Tuesday, when the Supreme Court is slated to deliver its judgment on the disqualification and resignations of the rebel MLAs,   the lunar eclipse on Wednesday which is considered inauspicious, virtually forced a postponement of the confidence vote to Thursday, said sources.

Keeping up pressure on the Speaker and government, the BJP sought to move a no-confidence motion against the Kumaraswamy government with its members J.C. Madhu Swamy, K.G. Bopaiah and C.M. Udasi submitting a notice, but they later agreed to the trust vote schedule. The opposition members also wanted the trust vote to be taken up on priority but the Speaker explained that the rules and precedents give him time up to 10 days to conduct a confidence vote after the notice is issued.

‘Don’t come to Mumbai’

Fervent attempts are still being made by Congress and JD(S) leaders to pacify the rebels ahead of the trust vote and secure their support. However,  a move by Mr Kumaraswamy,  Deputy CM Dr G. Parameshwar and some Congress leaders to fly to Mumbai and make the rebel MLAs withdraw their resignations, was  dropped after the rebels submitted a letter to the local DCP in Mumbai seeking police protection.

In the letter, they made it clear that they would not like to meet any Congress leader and added that on the contrary, they would feel threatened if Congress leaders and JD(S) leaders visited them in Mumbai.

There were also reports that the MLAs camping at a hotel in Mumbai may skip the confidence motion to be moved by Mr Kumaraswamy on July 18.

The rebels are unlikely to fly to Bengaluru on Thursday when the Congress-JD(S) government would face the floor test, a source said.  

The BJP meanwhile is playing it safe and has decided to keep its MLAs safely at the resort where they are at present staying, for the next two days.

Except for the MLAs from Bengaluru, the remaining BJP MLAs are staying at Ramada resort situated near Yelahanka in the city.  

They left for the resort in two buses, soon after the Assembly adjourned on Monday.

Speaking to this newspaper, a BJP MLA said, "we are not afraid of poaching but we have to take precautions, because the alliance partners (Congress and JD-S) have openly spoken about reverse Operation Kamala. To keep our flock together till the trust vote on Thursday, we decided to shift all our MLAs to the resort", he explained.

The mood in the BJP camp was no less than jubilant after all the 16 rebel MLAs decided to stick to their stand and not withdraw their resignations making it look like the fall of the H.D. Kumaraswamy government is imminent.

Party state unit chief B S Yeddyurappa went to the extent of claiming that he was confident of forming the government in the next four to five days.

No less confident was Chief Minister Kumaraswamy who asserted that his government would tide over the crisis. “I have full confidence...why do you worry,” he told reporters.

Resignations: All eyes on top court

The Supreme Court Monday agreed to hear a plea of five more rebel Congress MLAs along with the pending petition of 10 legislators seeking a direction to the Assembly speaker to accept their resignation. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took note of the submission of senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for the rebel MLAs, that they also be made parties to the pending petition, which is to be heard on Tuesday. The five MLAS are  Anand Singh, K Sudha kar, M.T.B. Nagaraj, Muni rathna and Roshan Baig.

The apex court on July 12 restrained Karnataka Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar from taking any decision till July 16 on resignation and disqualification of 10 rebel MLAs of the ruling Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition. The 10 rebel MLAs, who moved the Supreme Court earlier alleging that the speaker was not accep ting their resignation, were -- Pratap Gouda Patil, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Byrati Basavaraj, B C Patil, S T Somashekhar, Arbail Shivaram Hebbar, Mahesh Kumathalli, K Gopalaiah, A H Vishwanath and Narayana Gowda.

Apart from the question of maintainability of the writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution by the MLAs, the Supreme Court had said it needs to address as to whether the speaker is obligated to decide on disqualification proceedings before accepting the resignation of legislators.  

The counsel for the rebel MLAs had contended that the Speaker has not decided on the resignation of the lawmakers to bind them with the party whip and disqualify them from the membership if they violate the whip on the floor of the House.