Comments
Finally, after 11 days of high drama, it was curtains for the JDS-Congress coalition government in Karnataka on Tuesday, with Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy losing the trust vote by six votes after 15 disgruntled MLAs quit their seats.
Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar announced the result, after first holding a voice vote, and when the Opposition leader, BS Yeddyurappa, pressed for a division, the government lost the trust vote by 99 to 105 votes. The House then adjourned sine die .
“This is a victory for democracy. The 14-month-old Kumaraswamy government has been voted out,” said Yeddyurappa after the vote.
This comes after a four days of long-drawn-out sessions that saw heated debates. “I am not one to make a speech and run away. I will stand for a vote. Let the division happen,” Kumaraswamy told the House.
Earlier, concluding his debate on the Motion of Confidence, Kumaraswamy said he was ready to ‘sacrifice’ his post happily. After the Assembly debated the confidence motion for four days, he also said he had no intention to drag the trust vote and added, “I apologise to the Speaker and the people of the State.”
Supreme Court
In the morning, the Supreme Court had recorded the Karnataka Speaker’s oral submission that the trust vote may be taken up in the Assembly on Tuesday. Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for the Speaker, said: “I am saying, it (trust vote) may be taken up today or tomorrow... I am just being optimistic.”
Emotional Speaker
Referring to H Vishwanath (former JDS President and one of the rebel MLAs now in Mumbai), Speaker Ramesh Kumar said Vishwanath had not sought an appointment with him but submitted his resignation to his office. “But he went to the Supreme Court and made allegations against me.”
The Speaker said Vishwanath, a man who had deserted D Devraj Urs (former Karnataka Chief Minister who encouraged backward class leaders), who had brought him into public life, was now talking of his character and cautioning Yeddyurappa of the kind of person he was.
An emotional Ramesh took out a signed resignation letter from his pocket and gave it to Yeddyurappa to read. “I have come up under the guidance of D Devraj Urs and KH Ranganath,” he told the House.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.