Karnataka Political Drama Continues; Trust Vote Delayed Till Monday by Speaker KR Ramesh Amid Uproar in State Assembly
The trust vote in the state assembly was delayed today for the second consecutive day without conducting the floor test. Speaker of the assembly KR Ramesh Kumar now adjourned the floor test to Monday, July 22.
Bengaluru, July 19: In a new twist to Karnataka political drama, the trust vote in the state assembly was delayed on Friday for the second consecutive day without the floor test taking place at the Vidhan Soudha. Speaker of the assembly KR Ramesh Kumar now adjourned the floor test to Monday and said that the matter would not be prolonged further under any circumstances. Earlier, Kumar had asked the MLAs to conclude the trust vote till 7:30 PM. Governor Vajubhai Vala had also ordered the MLAs to finish the proceedings of the trust vote by today itself, but his order was unheard.
Speaking in the assembly, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that he would conclude his speech on Monday. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Karnataka President, BS Yeddyurappa was keen on conducting the trust vote on July 19. He said, "We respect you, Speaker sir. Governor's last letter said the vote should finish today. People on our side will sit peacefully till late in the night. Let it take however long it takes and it'll also mean that we can respect Governor's direction."
Earlier in the day, Kumaraswamy also moved the Supreme Court and challenged the Governor's letter which had asked him to complete the trust vote by 1.30 pm on Monday. In a petition filed before the court, he also sought a clarification that its July 17 order allowing the rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs from participating in the trust vote in the Assembly does not curb the right of his party to issue a whip to the MLAs.
Kumaraswamy on Wednesday had issued a whip to all 37 MLAs of JD(S) to be present during the trust vote. The Chief Minister had said warned that if MLAs did not attend the House and vote against the party whip even after attending the session on the day of trust voting, action would be initiated under the rule of Anti-Defection Law and that MLA would be disqualified from his post.
A group of BJP legislators had met Governor Vajubhai Vala on Thursday. They demanded a floor test and confidence motion against the Karnataka CM. The Governor then wrote to the Speaker of the assembly asking him to get the trust vote done by the end of Thursday but Kumar adjourned the house on Thursday. The BJP legislator against the Speaker's decision and held an overnight dharna at the assembly.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2019 09:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).