Governor acts as Speaker set to ignore Supreme Court order

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has dispatched a police team to Mumbai to verify if he was coerced to leave. The Congress has alleged that Mr Patil was kidnapped.

Mr Vala’s directive to the CM setting  a deadline for the trust vote, was reportedly provoked by the decision of Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar not to act on the earlier advice by the Supreme Court to complete the process of voting on the confidence motion by the end of the day itself.  Mr Vala issued the direction after the opposition BJP, upset over the alleged tactics adopted by the ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition to delay voting on the trust vote, rushed a delegation to the Governor.  Reacting to the Governor’s directive, senior Congress  leader and former Ballari MP V.S. Ugrappa said the move was unconstitutional as the session was on and the Governor had no authority to order the CM to prove his majority. The BJP is confident that it can defeat the confidence motion as it has the support of 105 of its MLAs and the two Independents as against the 101 MLAs of the coalition (excluding the Speaker).

Earlier in the day, the state Assembly witnessed stormy scenes after Mr Kumaraswamy moved a confidence motion to prove that he still had the numbers despite the exit of so many legislators.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah, in an apparent attempt to delay the debate on the trust vote, raised  a point of order asserting that the Supreme Court, in its interim order on Wednesday, had prevented him from issuing a whip to his own Congress legislators. He said the vote of confidence could not be taken up till the issue was resolved, as it would become unconstitutional. The SC order indirectly curtails the rights conferred on the legislature party leader in the 10th schedule of the Constitution, argued Mr Siddaramaiah adding that the Speaker should clarify on the issue and on his rights as CLP leader. The former CM also pointed that neither he, nor the Congress were respondents to the petitions filed by the rebel MLAs in the top court seeking early acceptance of their resignations and in these circumstances, he did get a chance to get a clarification on the issue. Responding to this, the Speaker said he would have to consult the state advocate general on the matter.

In a significant development that could put the Speaker and the SC on a collision course, the BJP is likely to move the Supreme Court, seeking its intervention in the trust vote row on Friday or Saturday. “It is very evident that the Speaker will not opt to complete the proceedings unless the directions come from the apex court,” the source said.