New Delhi: After the Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition in Karnataka ignored the two deadlines given by the Governor to prove its majority during a trust vote, the Speaker adjourned the Assembly till Monday.
The ruling coalition earlier questioned the Governor's power to issue such a direction, with Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy citing a Supreme Court verdict that a Governor cannot act as ombudsman of Legislature. Mr Kumaraswamy said he would not criticise the Governor and requested the Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar to decide whether the Governor can set a deadline.
Earlier today, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy continued his attack on the opposition BJP, accusing the party of offering "Rs. 40-50 crore" to lawmakers to switch sides. The BJP has alleged delaying tactics by the coalition, which appears to be in a minority after losing the support of 18 lawmakers over the past two weeks. Following the Speaker's decision to delay the trust vote, the BJP lawmakers spent the night in the assembly.
Sixteen legislators - 13 from the Congress and three from JDS - have resigned in the last two weeks, while two independent legislators have withdrawn their support to the coalition government. If the resignations of the 15 legislators who approached the Supreme Court are accepted, the ruling coalition's tally will plummet to 101 (if Ramalinga Reddy takes back his resignation), reducing the 13 month-old Kumaraswamy government to a minority.
Here are the Highlights on Karnataka crisis:
Jul 19, 2019 19:43 (IST)
Karnataka deputy chief minister G Parameshwara says: "We have approached Supreme Court to contend two major issues: Parties have the right to issue whips to their legislators & this cannot be taken away by any court. When the house is in session, Governor can't issue directions or deadlines to when we should have a trust vote."
Jul 19, 2019 15:54 (IST)
Karnataka Congress in-charge KC Venugopal tweets: "It is shameful that, instead of upholding the Constitution, the Karnataka Governor has turned to be an agent of BJP. He can't interfere in the functioning of Legislative Assembly. Stop converting Raj Bhavan to BJP Office."
Jul 19, 2019 15:16 (IST)
Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao moves Supreme Court claiming that top court's July 17 order, which directed that 15 rebel lawmakers cannot be compelled to attend Assembly, violated the party's right under Tenth Schedule to issue whip to its lawmakers.
Jul 19, 2019 10:35 (IST)
Karnataka police has reached Mumbai to record statement of Congress lawmaker Shrimant Patil, who slipped out of a resort where the party's lawmakers were staying and surfaced in a hospital in Mumbai.
Jul 19, 2019 10:08 (IST)
Karnataka BJP lawmakers to hold a meeting with state BJP President, BS Yeddyurappa before the commencement of today's Assembly session, reports news agency ANI.
Jul 19, 2019 09:47 (IST)
Eighteen legislators had absented themselves from the House as it took up the vote of confidence for debate earlier that day.