HD Kumaraswamy's ruling coalition maintains it will survive the floor test.
Highlights
- 16 Congress-JDS legislators have quit, 2 independents withdrew support
- Debate ahead of floor test began in assembly at 11 am
- Supreme Court said rebel legislators can't be forced to attend assembly
The Karnataka Governor has asked the Speaker to consider holding a trust vote of chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's government by the end of the day, after a delegation of BJP lawmakers met him this evening, alleging the ruling Congress-JDS coalition was delaying the vote of confidence. The chief minister, moving a motion for a trust vote today, had said his government had faced many hurdles but he was confident of winning the test of strength. The coalition government is on the verge of collapse after the resignation of 16 legislators and two independents pulling their support earlier this month. A prominent Congress rebel, Ramalinga Reddy, was present in the house, indicating that he was back in the fold, but it doesn't make any difference to the coalition's precarious position.
Here are the top 10 developments in the Karnataka trust vote
As soon as the trust motion was moved, opposition BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa stood up and said the trust vote process should be completed in a single day. "The Leader of Opposition seems to be in a hurry," Mr Kumaraswamy told Mr Yeddyurappa.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court left it to the speaker to decide on the resignations of the rebel lawmakers. At the same time, the court said they cannot be forced to attend the assembly, which blunts the threat of disqualification.
Armed with the Supreme Court order, the rebel lawmakers camping in Mumbai said there was no question of stepping back on their resignations or attending the session. Later in the evening, however, Ramalinga Reddy said he would withdraw his resignation.
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- 13 from the Congress and three from JDS - have resigned in the last two weeks, while two independent legislators have withdrawn their support to the coalition government.
The ruling coalition's strength in the 224-member assembly was 118 before the crisis unfolded. With the support of the two independents, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators. 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. But another Congress legislator Srimanth Patil, left the resort where they were staying and turned up in a hospital in Mumbai.
Karnataka assembly speaker K R Ramesh Kumar welcomed the Supreme Court decision, saying he would conduct himself responsibly as per the principles of the constitution but did not mention by when he would decide on the resignations.
Karnataka Congress troubleshooter D K Shivakumar maintained that the party can take action against the legislators for violating orders but made a "sincere personal request" to reconsider their resignations.
Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa said the Supreme Court ruling was a "moral victory" for the rebel legislators. "We are 101 per cent confident. They are less than 100, we are 105. There is no doubt that their motion will be defeated," he said.
The Congress in Karnataka slammed the Supreme Court order as a "bad judgment", which seemed to protect the defectors and encourage horse-trading. "The #SupremeCourt verdict is now encroaching upon the rights of the Legislature... [it] seems to protect the defectors and encourages horse trading and also violating the doctrine of separation of powers," Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao said in a series of tweets.
A joint delegation of the coalition, including Chief Minister Kumaraswamy and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah met the speaker and told him the Supreme Court had restricted their right to issue a whip, but "we have the right to impose a whip".
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