Karnataka Assembly Trust Votes: Speaker turned down HD Kumaraswamy's request for more time
The Karnataka assembly has voted on the Trust Motion and HD Kumaraswamy's Congress-JDS coalition has lost the trust vote by 6 votes as 99 legislators were in favour of the confidence motion and 105 against it, Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar announced before adjourning the House.
With the numbers stacked against him, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy faced the defeat after winding up the debate for four days on the motion of confidence moved by him on Thursday last, amid the political turmoil.
The Congress-JDS government had defied the two deadlines set by Governor Vajubhai Vala to Kumaraswamy to demonstrate his majority on Friday itself.
A wave of resignations had set off the political turbulence in the state, pushing the 14-month old coalition government to the brink of collapse.
Prohibitory orders are in place across Bengaluru for 48 hours starting 6pm today over the trust vote.
The state assembly proceedings commenced at 10 am this morning with BJP in full attendance. Several Congress-JDS lawmakers including Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah were absent for the first few hours of the session.
The coalition plunged into crisis after 16 lawmakers resigned and two independents withdrew support. The BJP has accused the Chief Minister of delaying the trust vote in hopes of reprieve from the Supreme Court.
Here are the live updates on Karnataka crisis:
Karnataka Coalition Falls: Congress, HD Kumaraswamy Promise Strong Action Against RebelsThe Congress and HD Kumaraswamy, whose government in Karnataka crashed in the test of strength in the state assembly today, have promised strong action against the rebels who brought it down. All 16 rebels - 13 from the Congress and 3 from Mr Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal Secular who resigned earlier this month, pushing the government into minority -- will be disqualified, the leaders have said."
Karnataka Coalition Falls: Congress Blames BJP Horse Trading For Karnataka LossThe Congress, which lost one more state under its belt today as the Karnataka government crashed in the trust vote in the state assembly, said it was the result of the "unscrupulous political horse trading of BJP". The party, however, declared it a "moral victory" and promised to hold nationwide protests against the "immoral, blatant and brazen political destabilization carried out by the BJP"."
BS Yeddyurappa Set To Be Chief Minister For Fourth TimeWith smiles and victory signs, the BJP today prepared to take power in Karnataka 14 months after it failed to rustle up the numbers to rule after the assembly election in which no party could win a majority.
BS Yeddyurappa, who had waited patiently for a trust vote for four days and said he was prepared to sit in the assembly till midnight, is set to be Chief Minister for the fourth time.
"It is a victory of democracy, it will be a new era of development," Mr Yeddyurappa said on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha or assembly building.
"People were fed up of this government," he said, adding that his government would focus on farmers.
Statement Issued by Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal:Political morality and basic democratic values got defeated by the unscrupulous political horse trading of BJP in Karnataka.
The sabotage of a duly elected government in Karnataka carried out by the BJP is one of the most heinous and subversive instances of blatant political horse tradings the country has ever witnessed.
The coalition government was brought down by the nefarious joint efforts of the Central Government, Governor, State Government of Maharashtra and Central BJP leadership. BJP carried out this political drama by offering huge amounts of black money and ministerial berths to the defected MLAs. Along with this, the BJP also misused central agencies like Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax for black mailing and coercing MLAs. BJP has carried out one of the biggest political subversion and hawala transaction to destabilize the coalition government in Karnataka. Video evidences of BJP leaders offering money to the defected MLAs for destabilising the coalition government and carrying out political horse trading was clearly brought out in the legislative assembly.
The Congress party and JD(S) fought on the floor of the house, in the Honourable Supreme Court as well as in the streets to uphold the democratic mores and values. All MLAs who stood with the party and workers who fought for upholding political morality in the state deserve a huge respect. Although BJP could get an upper hand in the legislative assembly in terms of the number of MLAs, the Congress-JD(S) had earned the moral victory.
The Congress party will hold nation wide protests against the immoral, blatant and brazen political destabilization carried out by the BJP.
(Press release)
Siddaramaiah speaks to ANI after trust vote:
"Some of our Cong MLAs-- 15-16 MLAs violated the whip by not attending the proceedings of the House. They are therefore liable to be disqualified."
Congress's Siddaramaiah, in a series of tweets, attacked the BJP before the trust vote:
Karnataka's HD Kumaraswamy Government Falls; BJP Says 'Game Of Karma'The one-year-old coalition government of the Congress and HD Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal Secular - teetering for weeks -- collapsed today, failing the floor test in the Karnataka assembly. The coalition cobbled up only 99 votes in comparison to the 105 votes of the BJP, which later tweeted that it was the "Game of Karma". The demand for trust vote came as 16 legislators resigned and two Independents withdrew support to the government within a fortnight. The trust vote -- pending since Friday - was held this evening after a lengthy back and forth. State capital Bengaluru has been placed under prohibitory orders banning large gatherings after the northern part of the city witnessed a clash between the Congress and the BJP workers over the two independent lawmakers who switched sides."
"Don't expect a man who disrespected the people's mandate to respect constitutional bodies. For HD Kumaraswamy and Congress all that it matter is the greed for power," Karnataka BJP tweeted.
BREAKING: HD Kumaraswamy's coalition government in Karnataka fails trust vote in assembly.
I have gone ahead with division as per rules -- for 99 (JDS-Congress) against -- 105 (BJP), Speaker says.
Speaker asks for result sheet. Votes being calculated by the office.
Counting of votes for and against going on now in the Vidhana Soudha.
To save the dignity of the chair, I won't participate in the voting unless there is a tie, says the Speaker.
Deputy speaker's vote being counted in assembly.
Voting on Trust Motion in Karnataka Assembly.
The doors have been closed. Counting happening row-wise, lobbies being cleared.
HD Kumaraswamy on people moving camps: "Their betrayal will not be entertained"HD Kumaraswamy: I want to tell BJP that it is not going to be easy. Before they know it, people will move camps again and they will then know the meaning of crisis.
Speaker: Will you take these people into the party?
HD Kumaraswamy: No their betrayal will not be entertained
HD Kumaraswamy says he is ready for the vote. "I am ready for the vote. Let's do it. Let me finish speaking," he said.
Karnataka Speaker on the crisis:The rebels who gave the resignations did not ask for time to meet. The private secretary said they have come to meet me. They then went directly to Supreme Court. I said sure. They came and they spoke to me. I have it all on video. I asked Vishwanath - you were a minister, you were ruling, I gave him the rulebook and asked him to fix the letters based on the rulebook. We all stepped into this assembly in the shadow of Indira Gandhi. I don't know if I will be speaker in future or not. I want to tell you that it is contempt of the house. I have this paper in my pocket. I have bought my resignation letter with me. Show it to Yeddyurappa. I cannot stand all these things, My blood boils. I brought a resignation letter with me because I was unsure what will happen at the end of the day today
Prohibitory orders of 48-hours banning large gatherings were issued across Bengaluru as the state police stepped up security ahead of the floor test
HD Kumaraswamy speaks in the House:- Sometimes when something is given some time, it gets better. Like I said before, I have done make some mistakes and I have done some good things.
- In the last Vidhan Sabha elections, no one got absolute majority. This then made way to the current scenario. But the last year has been difficult. We have not been let to rule.
- My wife before marrying me said I will be married to you and not your politics or power. Today she is here in the house. How far has the journey been for me.
- I am not particularly worried about the end of this debate. The outcome of the debate.
- Social media is what is endangering us. Everything is on Twitter. (Reads out BJP tweet), says "I was preparing for this debate not relaxing. I wanted to take to take it all in, not looting money. I don't want to talk about all the false being said on social media."
- Did I become a Chief Minister for all these certificates that I have received? Did I work as CM for this long for this certificate? I am pained. I do not regret it. Gets emotional.
- I will happily give up rather than all this. Why I am saying all this is because I don't want to see such tweets. I have acted with decency. The last 14 months has been - will they stay or will they go - and I thank my party leaders for staying through it all. The objections to us started on Day 1 of the coalition government.
- I want to assure the people watching that we have not wasted any time and we have worked hard.
- When I've done one thing wrong people have been quick to point it out. So I urge that people see the good and appreciate that as well. Have I betrayed the people?
- I wanted to create history, that's all I wanted to do. Have a government for the people. Some have referred to the government as "Kumbhakarn" - asleep. Since February, the opposition has been claiming that we don't have numbers. All of this surprises me.
Speaker: So many lemons have been used for pooja and superstition, they could have been given to the poor instead.
Mr Kumaraswamy: I want to ask. What have I done wrong? I want to know. They are so angry. Let's vote. I am not saying no to that.
- I am ready for the vote. Let's do it.
Siddaramaiah's attack on BS Yeddyurappa
"How much ever the BJP rejects these claims of horse trading, they cannot run from it. There is no escaping that. There have been so many audio recordings to prove this. Even Yeddyurappa admitted to one the audio recording being his voice,but denied that he had said any of those things."
Siddaramaiah's "Wholesale trade" allegations
Siddaramaiah calls the defection of lawmakers in Karnataka - "wholesale trade"
"How can a government survive if there is wholesale trade of MLAs? BJP needs at least 8 more lawmakers to reach the magic number of 113. So they have taken 15 MLAs."
"In our pursuit of power we must not try to shake the deep roots of democracy in the country," Siddaramaiah said.
No lunch breaks, says speaker
Speaker Ramesh Kumar had said that the house will not be adjourned for lunch today.
Proceedings of the house are expected to continue through the day. There were no adjournments since the session began at 10 am.
"Lawmakers may exit the house for lunch and come back in groups," the speaker said adding that this is to make sure that the debate will be completed by 4:00 pm and the trust vote will be held by 6:00 p.m. today.
Youth Congress workers staged protest outside the Mumbai hotel where the rebel lawmakers are reportedly staying.
Chief Minister Kumaraswamy arrives at Vidhan Soudha.Will attend the proceedings of the house.He is expected to speak in the assembly at 4 pm.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday accused Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar of acting in the "most partisan manner" and deliberately delaying the trust vote to help Congress-JDS government stay afloat.
"It is very unfortunate that the deadline is extended every day. The Speaker, about whom people had great expectations, has fully disappointed us. He has behaved in the most partisan manner," he was quoted by ANI as saying.
"We are pained": JDS-Congress lawmakers speak in the house
Siddaramaiah: Supreme Court has ruled that the speaker is free to take any decisions. The BJP has lost its discourse. The BJP needs to rectify what is done. The CLP leader has the right to issue whip and I have just been following that. No one is above the constitution. We have to work within the framework of the constitution. Its sad that we are the ones who gave the rebels the seat, we put in all the effort to make them win. It pains me that we did all the hard work to make them win and the BJP wants to swoop in and take it away.
Krishna Byre Gowda: "Take all the power you want, just try and understand the pain that we are going through". There are people who were family, and now that they have betrayed us, that pain is something no one will understand. The biggest pain I have, we have is that BJP will lure our family-like lawmakers and leave them in the streets helpless. That is the biggest pain.
Earlier in the day:
The Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar made hit out at the ruling government after noticing a near empty treasury benches in the house. "Should this be the fate of the Speaker or the assembly?" Mr Kumar asked Congress minister Priyank Kharge. "You will lose credibility, leave alone strength," he said.
According to reports, HD Kumaraswamy and DK Shivakumar meet to discuss strategies ahead of the 6 pm trust vote deadline.
Near empty treasury benches, speaker displeased
Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar expressed displeasure over near empty treasury benches as the House took up the debate on Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's motion of confidence for the fourth day running.
"Should this be the fate of the speaker or the assembly," the speaker asked minister Priyank Kharge.
BJP leaders including BS Yedyurappa said the ruling party must be "ashamed" of the way they are conducting themselves.
BJP Karnataka tweets on absence of Chief Minister Kumaraswamy in the house.
What we know so far:
Thirteen rebel lawmakers of the Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition in Karnataka were summoned by the speaker Ramesh Kumar to meet him at 11 am today. Earlier this morning, the 13 rebel lawmakers wrote to the Speaker asking for four weeks' time to meet him over a disqualification notice against them.
The Supreme Court will hear the case tomorrow.
The Karnataka Assembly began its proceedings at 10 am with the BJP in full attendance. The ruling side saw empty chairs with several lawmakers including Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah missing the first two hours of the session.
The Trust Vote hearing dragged on till close to midnight yesterday and the speaker concluded with a 6 pm deadline today for the Trust Vote.
The speaker said debates in the house are to be concluded by 4 pm today, the chief minister will then address the house for one hour following which the proceedings of the Trust Vote will begin.
Lawyer Mukul Rohatgi on Karnataka Trust Vote:
Court has said that it is optimistic that the floor test will happen today. The Supreme Court will hear the case of the rebel lawmakers tomorrow.
The Supreme Court protection covers and protects the rebel lawmakers from disqualification.
Replying to a question on a letter by the rebel legislators, who have sought four weeks to appear before the speaker, KR Ramesh told news agency ANI: "It is all related to court proceedings. It will all be dealt with in the court."
They Don't Have Numbers: BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje
BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje told news agency ANI: "They don't have the numbers. They're a minority government. Legislators are in Mumbai. They don't want to come. Let's see what happens by this evening. Confident that this government will definitely go. This isn't a people's government. People are upset, MLAs are upset."
BS Yeddyurappa, who said on Monday he wanted the trust vote by midnight, and other BJP legislators arrived at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru this morning.
Today Is The Last Day Of HD Kumaraswamy Government: BJP LeaderBJP leader J Shettar this morning told news agency ANI: "Today is the final day for this government. We believed yesterday was the last but because of the 'milapi kushti' between ruling party and others, they postponed it for one day. We'll see what happens and if division of votes take place this govt will definitely be defeated."