Karnataka crisis: Speaker throws twist in resignation spree; JD(S) accuses BJP of spending Rs 1,000 crore to buy MLAs

The ongoing political  crisis in Karnataka further deepened  on Tuesday as Shivajinagar Congress MLA R Roshan Baig quit the party, taking the count of dissident MLAs from the Congress-JD(S) coalition to 14. As the Congress demanded Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar’s intervention in disqualifying its rebel legislators from the Assembly, Kumar delivered a fresh twist by saying that letters of eight MLAs were in the wrong format.

After a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, senior leader Siddaramaiah  asked the party MLAs who had resigned to come back or face the consequences.

Siddaramaiah, Congress: It has been a habit of BJP to destabilise the govt. This is undemocratic, people haven't given mandate to BJP to form the govt. People have given more votes to us. Both JD(S) and Congress together got more than 57% of votes. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/2IZTsP5nXS

— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2019

Later, in a series of tweets, Siddaramaiah claimed that Amit Shah and “India’s disastrous prime minister” Narendra Modi were the brains behind the destabilisation of the state government.

“This is their sixth attempt in Karnataka since last one year. They are a sham to India’s democratic political system,” Siddaramaiah said. The former Karnataka chief minister further reminded the rebel MLAs about the anti-defection law, saying that “those who resign from the MLA post cannot hold any ministerial berths or chairs to boards and corporations”.

Some of our MLAs have fallen into the trap of @BJP4Karnataka & I am not sure whether they are aware of the anti-defection law. The laws are clear that those who resign from the MLA post cannot hold any ministerial berths or chairmans to boards and corporations.

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 9, 2019

The JD(S) accused the BJP of spending Rs 1,000 crore to purchase MLAs in Karnataka, adding that the amount was almost 10 percent of the annual state budget of Mizoram, Manipur, and Sikkim.

BJP is spending 1000 Crores for purchasing MLAs in Karnataka. You read it right, "1000 Crore Rupees Only".

Almost 10% of annual state budget of Mizoram, Manipur & Sikkim!

How & where did Modi, Shah get this money from? 'Corruption-free rule' is only on books & reality is this! pic.twitter.com/3qSrlJ85ae

— Janata Dal Secular (@JanataDal_S) July 9, 2019

The 14 MLAs who submitted their resignations are ST Somashekhar, Munirathna, BA Basavaraj, Pratap Gouda Patil, BC Patil, Ramesh Jarkiholi, A Shivaram Hebbar, Mahesh Kumathalli, Ramalinga Reddy, Anand Singh and R Roshan Baig (all Congress), and Gopalaiah, Narayana Gowda, Adagur H Vishwanath (from JD(S)). The coalition government was supported by two Independent MLAs, who resigned from the ministry on Monday.

‘Resignation letters of eight MLAs not in order’

Assembly speaker Kumar said the resignation letters of eight out of 13 MLAs of the Congress-JD(S) coalition (who had resigned earlier) were not in the prescribed format and asked the legislators to submit them properly.

“Baig’s letter was submitted today and so I have not scrutinised it,” Kumar said. “Among these 13 resignation letters (submitted earlier), five are in the prescribed format as per the regulations. These five are of Anand Singh, Narayana Gowda, Pratap Gouda Patil, Gopalaiah and Ramalinga Reddy,” Kumar told reporters at his chamber.

“Since the other resignation letters were not in the prescribed format. We have sent them a reminder letter that they were not in the prescribed format and hence, if you wish you can submit your resignations properly,” he added.

The Speaker said he has asked Anand Singh, Pratap Gouda Patil, Narayana Gowda to appear before him for personal hearing on 12 July at 3 pm and 4 pm, though the Assembly session will begin on that day. Since 13 and 14 July are holidays, Kumar said that he would hear K Gopalaiah and Ramalinga Reddy on 15 July. “I have given them two days’ time and asked them to present their argument on 11 July. Then I will have to fix a date to hold a hearing and serve notices to the persons concerned,” Kumar said.

Of the 14 MLAs who resigned, four are camping in Bengaluru, while the rest are in Mumbai. The Speaker said he will go through the rule book  and consult seniors about the developments on whether the resignations can be accepted or a different course of action was needed.

“I have to make a conscious decision. Every step I take will become history, so I can’t be committing a mistake. Future generations should not look at me like an accused,” Kumar added.

BJP MLAs to hold protest outside Assembly tomorrow

Workers of the ruling Congress-JD(S) held protests in various parts of Karnataka on Tuesday, against BJP’s “horse-trading” practices. Several Karnataka Congress leaders, including KC Venugopal, Siddaramaiah and Priyank Kharge (son of senior congress leader Malllikarjun Kharge) protested in front of the Gandhi statue in Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru: Congress leaders hold protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi statute in Vidhana Soudha. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/JsLCTDZr24

— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2019

Later, addressing the media, Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa said the party MLAs will stage a protest outside the Assembly on Wednesday to seek the chief minister’s resignation. “It’s time for HD Kumaraswamy to resign. All 105 MLAs will protest tomorrow (Wednesday) by 11 am at the Gandhi Statue in Vidhana Soudha,” he said.

Yeddyurappa’s comments came after BJP MLAs went to the Karnataka Assembly speaker’s office to discuss the developments, but failed to have a meeting with him.

Bengaluru: BJP MLAs went to Karnataka Assembly Speaker's office and left without meeting the Speaker, KR Ramesh Kumar, as he was not there. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/8LyGftFFZA

— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2019

Meanwhile, the Congress rushed senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and BK Hariprasad to Bengaluru to solve the differences. Sources told PTI that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi asked the leaders to mitigate the crisis in the southern state and save the government. Azad was the one who along with Ashok Gehlot stitched together the coalition government in Karnataka in 2017.

In the Lok Sabha, the Congress tried to raise the Karnataka issue​ during the Zero Hour, but was disallowed by Speaker Om Birla, who said the matter was discussed in the House on Monday with a response from Deputy Leader of House Rajnath Singh.

With the Speaker refusing to relent, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said the BJP was targeting the Karnataka government. Hitting back, Rajnath Singh said the Karnataka issue was an internal matter of the Congress.

“The politics of poaching and targeting must be stopped,“an exasperated Chowdhury said and staged a walkout. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also walked out and were followed by DMK members.

Rajya Sabha, too, witnessed uproar, with Congress members storming the Well and raising slogans, leading to adjournment of proceedings for the day.

The ruling coalition faces the threat of losing its majority if the resignations of the rebel MLAs are accepted.

The JD(S)-Congress coalition’s total strength is 116 (Congress-78, JD(S)-37 and BSP-1) besides the Speaker. With the support of the two Independents, who on Monday resigned from the ministry, the BJP has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where the half-way mark is 113. If the resignations of the 14 MLAs are accepted, the coalition’s tally will be reduced to 102, giving the BJP with 107 MLAs (including two Independent MLAs) the majority in the Assembly. If resignations are accepted the majority mark to form govt drops to 105. The Speaker also has a vote.

With inputs from agencies