Karnataka political drama: Kumaraswamy exits, Yeddy enters

Bengaluru: Finally, there was no magic wand with Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy to save his ‘always tottering’ 14-month-old Congress-JD(S) government as he was defeated in the trust vote on Tuesday evening.

Ending the political high drama of three weeks in the state, the confidence motion moved by the chief minister was defeated with 99 members backing it and 105 opposing it in a 225-member House. Rest of the MLAs abstained from the proceedings.

The last nail in the turbulent tenure of Kumaraswamy was driven by the rebel lawmakers who resigned, putting the government on the verge of collapse.

"The motion moved by the chief minister has fallen through," Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar announced after the trust vote.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy watched the proceedings sitting in a pensive mood after a spirited reply to the debate.

Soon after the outcome, Kumaraswamy drove to the Raj Bhavan along with deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and other senior colleagues and handed over his resignation.

With rebellion exploding in its face, the coalition government was hanging by a thread for the last three weeks, with the Supreme Court verdict that rebel law makers ought not to be compelled to attend the session tipping the scales in favour of the BJP.

Outwitted in the numbers game and defeat staring in his face with the rebel MLAs in no mood to step back from their position not to attend the assembly session, Kumaraswamy gave indications of quitting in the initial remarks while winding up the debate on confidence motion.

"I am ready to happily sacrifice this position,” he said appearing resigned to the fate of his ministry, as the assembly debated the confidence motion for four days.

Twenty one MLAs - Congress-JDS (17), BSP (1), Independents (2) skipped the proceedings, reducing the effective strength of the House to 204.

The magic figure required was 103.

In his reply, Kumaraswamy said discussions were on why he had not resigned and was sticking to the chair.

Sounding philosophical, he said that when the 2018 assembly polls results were out, he had plans to quit politics.

"My political entry itself was all of a sudden and unexpected".

Kumaraswamy lashed out at the BJP for repeatedly trying to topple his government and told the saffron party that its government would not last long and in the event of collapse, it is better to go for elections.

"First bomb will explode in ministry formation," he said.

Asserting that his government was not shameless, he asked, "what wrong have we committed. We tried to create history.

We have worked honestly to provide people friendly government."

Accusing the BJP of being in a hurry, he said, "I am not going to run away after speech. Let the people of the state know why I was removed. I am not going to run away fearing numbers. Let the votes be counted. Chief minister's seat is not a permanent to anyone."

The BJP did not take part in the debate except for interventions and remained silent despite allegations thrown at it by the Congress and JD(S) members.

In his speech, Congress leader Siddaramaiah Tuesday accused the BJP of trying come to power through backdoor using bribery and "wholesale" trade of MLAs.

He said the 15 MLAs resigning was nothing but "wholesale trade."

Siddaramaiah alleged that "Rs 20,25 and 30 crore" were offered to lure the MLAs and asked "Where did this money come from?"

Yeddy next?

BJP president Amit Shah held consultation with party leaders amid indications that B S Yedyurappa may be its chief ministerial choice.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, who is from Karnataka, said Yeddyurappa is the BJP's natural choice for the job but the national leadership will take the final call.

Flashing the victory sign after the voting, BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa described the outcome as a "victory for democracy" as people were fed up with the Kumaraswamy government.

He assured the people of Karnataka that "an era of development" would start with BJP in power.

On the next step, Yeddyurappa said an appropriate decision would be taken "as early as possible."

The government had defied two deadlines set by Governor Vajubhai Lala.

The turmoil reached the climax after dramatic twists and turns that saw the MLAs of rival camps being corralled in resorts and hotels, allegations of bribery, rebel lawmakers knock the doors of the the Supreme Court to decide on the issues of whip, floor test and governor's intervention.

Kumaraswamy and the Congress had moved the Supreme Court accusing the governor of interfering with the Assembly proceedings when the debate on the trust vote was underway and sought clarification on its July 17 order causing hindrance in issuing whip to the legislators.

The court had held that the MLAs cannot be compelled to participate in the Assembly proceedings.

The ruling coalition made frenetic efforts to win back the rebels with chief minister making a desperate appeal to them on Sunday to attend the session to save his ministry but they refused to budge, sealing the fate of his government.

As many as 16 MLAs - 13 from the Congress and three from JDS - had resigned, while independent MLAs R Shankar and H Nagesh had withdrawn their support to the coalition government, pushing it to the precipice.

One Congress member Ramalinga Reddy retracted from his decision to resign, saying he would support the government.

Before the enmasse resignations, the ruling combine's strength was 117 - Congress 78, JD(S) 37, BSP 1, and nominated 1, besides the speaker.

This is the third motion on trust vote after the 2018 assembly polls yielded a fractured mandate with the BJP emerging as the single largest party with 104 seats, but failing to mobilise numbers.

BJP added one more to its tally after the victory of an MLA in a by-election.

Yeddyurappa had resigned as CM after being in office for three days before facing the trust vote in May last year.

Kumaraswamy, who succeeded him, had won the trust vote after forming the coalition government.

The trial of strength took place a day after the Supreme Court ruled on July 17 that the 15 rebel Congress-JDS MLAs "ought not" to be compelled to participate in the proceedings of the ongoing session of the state Assembly.

The Karnataka drama unfolded with Anand Singh quitting on July 1 as an assembly member, setting off a wave of resignations that swamped the ruling coalition, putting the government in jeopardy.

Fighting the battle for survival, the ruling coalition used all ammunition to tame the rebels from making offers to holding out the threat of disqualification but all in vain.

BJP, accused of making repeated attempts to topple the coalition government, managed to hold its flock together, herding them together in a hotel in Mumbai from the time the crisis erupted till the climax, amid allegations by the Congress that they were being held in confinement.

In his missive to Kumaraswamy, the governor had expressed his "prima facie satisfaction" that the government has lost its majority confidence of the house.

"When the allegations of horse-trading are widely made and I am receiving many complaints, it is constitutionally imperative that the floor test be completed without any delay and today itself," the governor had told Kumaraswamy on Friday.

Apprehensive of poaching bid from each other, the lawmakers from both camps were held in hotels and resorts and were being brought to the assembly in buses.

Fighting to save the government, Congress and JDS had sought disqualification of its rebel legislators accusing the BJP of using money power to lure the MLAs.

MLAs in Mumbai to return after Yeddyurappa sworn in

According to agency reports, the rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs camping in Mumbai will leave for Bengaluru after BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa is sworn in as chief minister of the southern state.

A BJP leader said the rebels, who have been staying at a luxury hotel since early this month are "very happy" after the government lost the trust vote.

"They (rebel MLAs) got what they wanted," the leader said.

The MLAs will leave Mumbai after Yeddyurappa is sworn in as CM, he said.

The rebels had earlier denied any BJP role in their resignations and withdrawal of support.

(With inputs from agencies)