Karnataka crisis: Ready for trust vote, fix time, CM HD Kumaraswamy tells Speaker

BENGALURU: Amid efforts to save the Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday said that he was ready for a trust vote to prove his majority on the floor of the house. The JDS leader also urged the assembly Speaker to fix a time for that.

''Today, there are many things happening in our state's politics because of the decisions of many MLAs, which has created a difficult situation. I am not here to sit in power, I appeal to you that in light of the developments I want to move a trust motion,'' CM Kumaraswamy said in the assembly.

"I urge you to please fix time for it," Kumaraswamy said as the state assembly began its budget session today.

"I am ready for everything and not here to stick to power," he added.

 

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Kumaraswamy had on Thursday refused to quit as chief minister in light of the recent political developments and said that the ruling coalition is stable.

The Congress-Janata Dal-Secular coalition in Karnataka has landed in trouble after a group of dissident ruling side legislators resigned last week.

If the resignations are accepted, the ruling coalition could slip below the half-way mark and rival BJP will have a majority.

In a big relief to the ruling coalition, the Supreme Court today said that there would be no decision on the resignations of the dissenting MLAs.

The Supreme Court ordered a ''status quo'' while responding to a plea filed by a group of dissident Karnataka ruling coalition MLAs, who have accused the assembly Speaker of not discharging his constitutional duties and refusing to accept their resignations.

''Maintain status quo till the matter is heard again on Tuesday,'' the Supreme Court said in its order.

The order was passed by a three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which said that the matter required a detailed hearing and scheduled it for further hearing on Tuesday.

The 10 rebel ruling side legislators who petitioned the apex court on July 10 against the Speaker for reportedly delaying to accept their resignations are Ramesh Jarkiholi, Byrati Basavraju, BC Patil, Shivaram Hebbar, ST Somashekar, Prathapgouda Patil and Mahesh Kumatahali of the Congress and K. Gopalaiah, AH Vishwanath, KC Narayan Gowda of the JDS.

Speaker Ramesh Kumar had rejected the resignations on the ground of "wrong format" after which the lawmakers wrote down fresh resignations in front of him on Thursday. They later flew back to Mumbai, where they have been staying since they quit on Saturday.

The BJP, which will have a majority if the resignations are accepted, says the coalition government must resign because it has "lost its moral authority to rule." 

The party has been accused by the Congress and the JDS of crafting the crisis to try and seize power in Karnataka, more than a year after it fell short of a majority in state polls.

The Congress has ordered its lawmakers to attend the session and so has the JDS, which had put up its members at a resort just outside Bengaluru to keep its flock intact.

If the resignations are accepted, the coalition's 118 members will come down to 100 and the majority mark will drop from 113 to 105. The BJP has 105 members and the support of the two Independents, which takes its tally to 107.