Mayawati expels lone BSP K\'taka MLA for \'defying\' order on trust vote

Bengaluru: The lone Bahujan Samaj Party legislator in Karnataka has been expelled by the party supremo Mayawayi over his absence from the state Assembly during trust vote on Tuesday evening.

The legislator, N Mahesh, had been asked by the BSP to vote in favour of the heavily outnumbered government of chief minister HD Kumaraswamy.

Taking to Twitter, Mayawati wrote: “BSP MLA N Mahesh ignored the party high command's order to vote in support of the Kumaraswamy government. He remained absent. The party has taken this indiscipline very seriously and has expelled him.”

The coalition government of the Congress and HD Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal Secular got 99 votes in comparison to the 105 votes of the BJP. With this, it is likely that the BJP would form the government in the state.

Earlier this month, 16 legislators - 13 from the Congress and three from JD(S) - resigned and two independent legislators withdrew support to the coalition government, sending the state into a political turmoil.