Karnataka Assembly floor test LATEST updates: Speaking in the Assembly, HD Kumaraswamy said, “I got information that I have tendered my resignation to the governor. I don’t know who is waiting to become the chief minister. Someone has forged my signature and spread the same on social media. I’m shocked at the cheap level of publicity.” The Assembly has reconvened after the Speaker adjourned the sitting or ten mins at 6.30 pm. BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa has urged the Speaker to conduct the trust vote by midnight. Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar is holding a meeting with HD Kumaraswamy, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, SR Mahesh from JD(S), and Congress leaders Krishna Byre Gowda, and Siddaramaiah, in his chamber at Vidhana Soudha. Earlier, he met BJP leaders Sunil Kumar, Basavaraj Bommai, and CT Ravi, and JDS leaders SR Mahesh, HD Revanna, and Bandeppa Kashempur, in his chamber at Vidhana Soudha. According to reports, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has sought two more days’ time from Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar for the trust vote, saying that he needs more time. Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar asserted that the floor test in the Assembly will be held on Monday itself as he had “given his word” on the matter. However, speaking at a press conference, Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “Let us wait for the decision of Supreme Court after the hearing (on Tuesday), and then take the next step. We wanted rights of every member upheld, but trust vote cannot be conducted in such a manner.” According to reports, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is likely to meet the governor at 7 pm to tender his resignation. On Sunday, Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar had made the claim that Kumaraswamy will vacate the chief minister’s position to save the Congress-JD(S) combine. Participating in the debate on the confidence motion, JD(S) leader AT Ramaswamy asked the rebel MLAs if they were being honest about them not being hungry for power. “Danger lurks the Constitution if the backdoor entry to power is allowed by way of resignations,”  he said. Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao wrote on Twitter that the Speaker has upheld the sanctity of the whip and says it’s applicable as per 10th Schedule of the Constitution. “He ruled that the Supreme Court interim order in no way protects the rebel MLAs if they violate the whip. Welcome his just and equitable order.” Rao said. In the debate ahead of the trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly on Monday, the Congress presided over the debate in the House. State minister Krishna Byre Gowda accused the BJP of “trying to eliminate all parties” and said that the coalition partners were “fighting for equal opportunity”. He added, “Evil of political defection is a matter of national concern. The rebel MLAs have shifted their loyalties, they have an ulterior motive.” Karnataka Congress minister Krishna Byre Gowda demanded that the Speaker should decide on the resignations of the rebel MLAs. “If there is no decision on the status of rebel MLAs, the trust vote has no sanctity,” he was quoted as saying by News18. Congress leader DK Shivakumar, while speaking in the Assembly ahead of the trust vote on Monday, said BJP “should accept” that they had spoken to rebel MLAs. He said, “Why is the BJP not accepting that it wants the chair? Why are they not accepting the fact that they are behind ‘Operation Lotus’? They should accept that they have spoken to these(rebel) MLAs.” Speaker Ramesh Kumar criticised rebel MLA BC Patil over his absence in the Assembly’s session on Monday. His statement came after a BJP MLA defended Patil when Congress minister Krishna Byre Gowda raised points about him. The Speaker said, “Isn’t he an elected member? Shouldn’t he be present here? People have given him the opportunity to be present here. If he’s not coming, he needs to write to me. He hasn’t done that too. He has enough opportunities to defend himself.” Congress MLA Krishna Byre Gowda addressed the Karnataka Assembly ahead of the trust vote and raised the resignations of the rebel MLAs. He was quoted by News18 as saying, “One is Ramesh Jarkiholi. He has been in touch with the BJP, met them several times in the last few months. He was unhappy for not having received a ministerial berth.” He also said that even though the BJP alleged that the government is in minority because of the resignation of the MLAs, they didn’t move a no-confidence motion. Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar asserted that he “would not send a message” to the rebel MLAs who are currently lodged in a Mumbai hotel. “Issuing whip is left to leaders of respective parties,” he added. Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar began the House’s proceedings by addressing the MLAs and urged them to “make sure the dignity of the Assembly is kept alive” in their speeches on Monday. “These are times that stalling tactics are being used. It harms the image of Assembly, Speaker and also the image of you as MLAs,” he said. Speaker Ramesh Kumar said that it would be “impossible” to delay the floor test in the Karnataka Assembly and is likely to proceed with the trust vote on the agenda for the House on Monday. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had approached him requesting a postponement in the floor test. As the Karnataka Assembly convened for the crucial floor test on Monday, reports said that Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy approached Speaker Ramesh Kumar requesting that the trust vote be held on Wednesday instead. Meanwhile, a delegation of the BJP also met the Speaker asking for the floor test to be held on Monday itself. The Karnataka Assembly is now in session as the focus is on the crucial trust vote on the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is addressing the House. Karnataka Speaker Ramesh Kumar has reached the Vidhan Soudha for the Karnataka Assembly session on Monday, reports said. Karnataka Speaker Ramesh Kumar has summoned the rebel MLAs, who are currently lodged in a Mumbai hotel, to meet him at his office at 11 am on Tuesday. The notice has been issued over disqualification petition by coalition leaders. Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar was quoted by reports as saying that the floor test on the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in the Assembly is going to conclude on Monday. “It is a gentlemanly agreement between the parties that the floor test must conclude today,” he was quoted as saying by India Today.  Ahead of the floor test of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka, security has been increased around Vidhana Soudha. Security personnel have been deployed at Vidhana Soudha and the Raj Bhavan, ANI reported. Pleas filed by Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao, seeking clarification on the previous Supreme Court order which allowed the rebel MLAs to skip the floor test in the Assembly session on Monday, are likely to be mentioned before the apex court again ahead of the trust vote. The petitions are reportedly to be mentioned before Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi at 10.30 on Monday. Kumaraswamy and the Congress have moved the petitions seeking clarification for if the order applies to their constitutional right to issue a whip to their MLAs. The applications filed by two Independent MLAs are also to be mentioned in the apex court as they have asked for a direction for the conclusion of the trust vote by 5 pm on Monday. Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa expressed confidence that Monday “will be the last day of the Kumaraswamy government” and said the chief minister was just trying to buy time by delaying the trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly. “As (senior Congress leader) Siddaramaiah, the Speaker and Kumaraswamy have said that they will seek majority on Monday, I am 100 percent confident that things will reach a conclusion. I am confident that tomorrow will be the last day of the Kumaraswamy government,” he said. With the fate of the fragile Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka likely to be decided on Monday with a trust vote in the Assembly, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has appealed to the rebel MLAs to return and “expose” the BJP during the debate in the House, but they ruled out attending the session. Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa exuded confidence that “tomorrow will be the last day of the Kumaraswamy government” and said the chief minister was just trying to buy time. After the voting on confidence motion did not take place despite two deadlines on 19 July set by Governor Vajubhai Vala, two Independent MLAs, who withdrew support to the Congress-JD(S) government, moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction for conducting a floor test forthwith in the state Assembly, their lawyer said. In their petition, which is likely to be mentioned on Monday, MLAs R Shankar and H Nagesh, have sought a direction to the coalition government to hold the floor test on or before 5 pm on 22 July, senior advocate Mukul Rohatagi, said. Amid reports that the government was still trying to prolong the discussion on the confidence motion to delay the floor test in a hope of some kind of relief from the Supreme Court, Kumaraswamy on Sunday said he was not trying to cling onto power. “My only intention of seeking time for debate on trust vote is to let the entire country know how the BJP, which talks of morality, is trying to subvert the very principles of democracy as well as Constitution,” he said in a statement, and offered to hold talks with rebels MLAs to resolve their issues. But the rebel lawmakers hunkered down in a Mumbai hotel asserted they would not return and rejected allegations they were held captive. “We thought this government will do good to the state but it did not happen. There is no question of our attending the assembly session tomorrow,” rebel JD(S) MLA K Gopalaiah said in a video , flanked by ten other legislators. AH Vishwanath, who resigned as the JD(S) state president following the Lok Sabha election debacle, said “the demonic politics in the name of coalition has done no good to the people and compelled the MLAs to reisgn.” Senior minister and Congress trouble-shooter DK Shivakumar claimed Kumaraswamy has told the Congress that it can appoint any leader of its choice as chief minister to save the coalition. There was, however, no confirmation from the JD(S) that it has made such a proposal though there were reports earlier that such a suggestion by Kumaraswamy was shot down by his father and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda. Kumaraswamy and the Congress had moved the Supreme Court on Friday, accusing the Governor of interfering with the Assembly proceedings when the debate on the trust vote was underway and sought clarification on its 17 July order, which they said, caused hindrance in issuing whip to the legislators. Kumaraswamy on Sunday mounted a scathing attack on BJP, accusing it of touching a new low by its “immoral politics”. “It is a matter of immense pain and disgust that the BJP has not only taken Karnataka’s political scenario to a new low, but also touched a new low in the country for immoral politics. The BJP has made a mockery of democracy by taking away several MLAs from ruling coalition forcefully,” he said in the statement. “Amidst all these developments, which are a result of the sole ambition to capture power through immoral and illegal ways, the BJP has been demanding I must resign immediately and has even got the Raj Bhavan to set deadlines for putting the confidence motion into vote,” the chief minister said. He made a fervent appeal to the disgruntled MLAs to return and “expose” the BJP. “I would like to appeal to such MLAs who have gone away from us to please attend the legislature session and narrate how the BJP took them away forcefully,” he said. The JD(S) leader also assured he would do every bit to solve their problems. Meanwhile, the coalition received a minor relief when Bahujan Samajwadi Party supremo Mayawati directed her party's lone MLA in Karnataka N Mahesh to vote in favour of the trust motion. BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa hit back at Kumaraswamy questioning where was his morality when the JD(S) and Congress came together to satiate the greed for power after fighting elections against each other. The Assembly was adjourned till Monday after the Governor’s 1.30 pm deadline and the second one to conclude the confidence motion process by Friday itself was ignored, prolonging the climax to the ceaseless power struggle that has been on for the last three weeks. As the situation threatens to blow into a Constitutional crisis, the ruling coalition has vociferously questioned the Governor’s power to issue such directions. However, before adjourning the House on Friday, Speaker Ramesh Kumar extracted a “commitment” from the coalition that the motion of confidence would reach finality on Monday, even as he made it clear that it would not be prolonged further under any circumstances. With treasury benches insisting that the Speaker allow its long list of speakers to voice their feelings, questions are still being raised in political circles over whether voting on the motion will happen Monday also. If the trust vote is not taken up on Monday, all eyes will be on the next move by the Governor, who has been keeping the Centre posted on the unfolding drama in the state. Yeddyurappa said, “As Siddaramaiah, Speaker and Kumaraswamy have said that they will seek majority on Monday, I am 100 percent confident that things will reach a conclusion. I am confident that tomorrow is the last day of the Kumaraswamy government,” he told reporters. “The Supreme Court has clearly said in its order that under no circumstances should the 15 MLAs staying in Mumbai be compelled to attend the current assembly session,” he said. If he fails to prove majority on the floor of the House, Kumaraswamy will have to tender the resignation, following which the procedure to form an alternative government will be kickstarted. Yeddyurappa has claimed that the Congress-JD(S) coalition had just 98 legislators and it has lost majority, while the BJP led by him, with 106 MLAs, was in a comfortable position to form an alternative government. As many as 16 MLAs — 13 from the Congress and three from JDS — had resigned, while independent MLAs R Shankar and H Nagesh have withdrawn their support to the coalition government, putting the government to the precipice. One Congress member Ramalinga Reddy retracted, saying he would support the government. The ruling combine’s strength is 117 — Congress 78, JD(S) 37, BSP 1, and nominated 1, besides the Speaker. With the support of the two independents, the opposition BJP has 107 MLAs in the 225-member House, including the nominated MLA and Speaker. If the resignations of 15 MLAs (12 from Congress and three from JDS) are accepted or if they stay away, the ruling coalitions tally will plummet to 101, (excluding the Speaker) reducing the government to a minority. BJP’s strength is also likely to come down to 106, as Shankar who has extended support to the saffron party will not attend the session, according to sources.