Bangalore: Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar Sunday disqualified 14 more rebel MLAs under the anti-defection law till the end of the assembly term in 2023, a day ahead of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa seeking the trust vote in the House to prove his majority.
Eleven Congress MLAs and three JDS lawmakers faced the axe from the Speaker, who pronounced
his ruling at a hurriedly called news conference, two days
after Yediyurappa took the oath as chief minister after the collapse of the Congress-JDS coalition
government.
The Speaker’s action would have no bearing on the fate of the Yediyurappa government, as with disqualification of the errant MLAs with immediate effect, their absence would reduce the effective strength of the House, making it a smooth affair for the BJP.
The absence of 20 MLAS –17 rebels, also one each from Congress, BSP and Independent – during the vote of confidence motion moved by the Congress-JDS coalition government headed by HD Kumaraswamy had led to its downfall after weeks of drama marked by murky political intrigues.
With the disqualification of 17 rebel MLAs –14 from the Congress and three from JDS – Sunday, the effective strength of the 224-member assembly excluding the Speaker, who has a vote in case of a tie, is 207. The needed magic figure is 104.
BJP along with the support of one independent has 106 members, Congress 66 (including nominated), JD(S) 34 and one BSP member, who has been expelled by the party for not voting for the Kumaraswamy government during the trust vote.
The Speaker’s sudden move comes with indications from the BJP that it was mulling moving a no-confidence motion against him if he doesn’t voluntarily give up the post when the assembly meets Monday. Kumar said he was taking the action based on the petitions moved by the Congress and JDS to disqualify the rebel MLAs, who had also submitted resignations as assembly members and were absent during the trust vote.
