Karnataka crisis: SC refuses urgent hearing of Speaker's petition

Politics

The Speaker will now have to abide by the apex court’s order earlier in the day, to decide on the resignation of the rebel MLAs by midnight.

TNM Staff

In continuance with the hectic parleys regarding the political crisis in Bengaluru, the Supreme Court refused to hear an urgent petition filed by Karnataka Speaker KR Rakesh Kumar on Thursday afternoon. However, the top court said that the Ramesh Kumar’s plea will be heard along with the plea of the 10 rebel MLAs. Ramesh Kumar approached the apex court to seek more time and vacate the SC order directing him to decide on resignations of 10 rebel MLAs forthwith, and latest by 12 midnight, after they appear before him at 6 pm. The Speaker also said he is also seized of the disqualification proceedings initiated against the rebel MLAs and that too takes time available with him, which makes it difficult to forthwith decide the voluntary nature of resignations that would require a proper inquiry. With this, the 10 rebel MLAs of the ruling coalition will continue with their journey back to Bengaluru on a chartered flight from Mumbai. They will appear before the Speaker and make themselves heard at 6 pm as directed by the SC earlier in the day. The top court has ordered the Speaker to grant them an audience where they will be able to present their resignations. The Speaker will have to pass an order on the plea of resignations, which will then be conveyed to the Supreme Court on Friday.  The decision was made by the SC as it was hearing a petition filed by the 10 rebel MLAs – Pratap Gouda Patil, Ramesh Jarkhiholi, Byrati Basavaraj, BC Patil, ST Somashekar, Arbail Sivaram Hebbar, Mahesh Kumathalli, K Gopalaiah, HD Vishwanath and Narayan Gowda – seeking the SC to direct the Speaker accept their resignations. At present, the Congress-JD(S) coalition has just 101 MLAs in the Assembly, including the Speaker and BSP MLA Mahesh. The BJP has 107 legislators including independent MLA H Nagesh and KPJP MLA R Sankar. The majority mark is 105. However, the coalition hopes that they will be able to convince at least a few MLAs to take back their resignations. With Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar saying that the MLAs have to come before him personally to submit their resignations, the Congress hopes that once these MLAs reach Bengaluru, they will be able to meet and convince them. On the other hand, the Congress had also sought disqualification of these warring MLAs on grounds of anti-party activities and has also sought that they be debarred from contesting for elections for six years.

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Congress’ Ramalinga Reddy reconsidering resignation? Says he has time till Monday

Politics

In an exclusive interaction with TNM, veteran Congress leader and rebel MLA Ramalinga Reddy hinted that he might withdraw his resignation.

Prajwal Bhat

Senior Congress leader and seven-time Bengaluru MLA Ramalinga Reddy on Thursday said that he may reconsider his decision to resign as MLA before he is set to appear before the Speaker on Monday.  Speaking to TNM at his office in Bengaluru, Ramalinga Reddy said, "There is time till July 15. I don't want to speak about politics till then. All the time for speaking is over and I have expressed my problems to the senior leadership of the Congress." He said that he will closely follow the political developments in the state before his meeting with Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar on Monday, the day allotted to him to present his resignation. Reddy had tendered his resignation on July 6 days after over not being inducted into the Kumaraswamy cabinet. The seven-time MLA is the senior most leader from Congress in Bengaluru and was key to the party convincing independents and JD(S) members in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections in 2015.   However, he was overlooked for a ministerial position when the coalition government was formed in May 2018. "Other senior leaders were given ministerial positions but I was overlooked not only when the government was formed but even recently when the independent MLAs were inducted," he said. Independent MLAs H Nagesh and R Shankar were inducted into the cabinet in June. The duo has, however, since withdrawn their support for the Congress and pledged their support for the BJP.  Sources told TNM that Ramalinga Reddy was offered the post of Bengaluru Development Minister earlier in the week and later, the post of Deputy Chief Minister. Both positions are currently held by G Parameshwara.  However, Ramalinga Reddy also told TNM, "I have not asked for any ministerial positions now. I have made that clear.” Ramalinga Reddy is among 16 Congress MLAs who have submitted their resignation papers to the Speaker. But Ramalinga chooses to distance himself from the rebel MLAs who are currently holed up in a hotel in Mumbai. "I have not gone to court or gone away from Bengaluru. I am in my office and I can be contacted at any time. I am in touch with KC Venugopal, Mallikarjun Kharge and even Kumaraswamy. I have also spoken to BJP leaders but this decision is not influenced by the BJP," he told TNM further.  "I have worked with Congress for decades. I am only resigning as an MLA and not leaving the Congress party," he added. With rebel MLAs in Mumbai indicating that they are firm on their decision to resign as MLAs, the Congress could turn to its veteran from Bengaluru to try and save the government. The 10 MLAs, who had approached the Supreme Court, have been ordered to appear before the Speaker by 6pm on Thursday and present their resignations. The Speaker has been directed to come out with a decision on their resignations and present his order to the top court on Friday.

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Tejasvi Surya wants NRC in Karnataka ‘due to influx of Bangladeshi immigrants’

NRC

Tejasvi Surya’s demand for extending NRC to the state comes at a time when Karnataka is at an advanced stage of setting up a detention centre for illegal immigrants.

TNM Staff

Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya of the BJP has demanded that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) be extended to Karnataka as well as the rest of the country. The first-time MP was speaking during the Zero Hour of the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Tejasvi claimed that there is a “security and internal security threat due to the influx of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants into the state (Karnataka) and city (Bengaluru).”  “The state government last year as well as the Honourable Chief Minister had said that there are more than 40,000 illegal Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants in the state of Karnataka who have now taken up jobs illegally, procured Aadhaar cards, voter identity cards with the help of state government and authorities. They are now posing a very important security threat to the state,” he said in the Lok Sabha.  Tejasvi appears to be quoting the figure from a 2015 letter written by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, who was then in the opposition, to then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. In that letter, Kumaraswamy had stated that there were 40,000 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in the state. However, in late 2016, the then Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara, in response to a question, said that 283 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were in the state. The number of illegal Bangaladeshi immigrants in Karnataka has never been clear, with the figures varying widely. On July 2, responding to a question by Bangalore Central MP PC Mohan, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that there was no accurate data on illegal immigrants living in the country. “As per information received from the State Government of Karnataka, 143 cases have been registered against illegal Bangladeshi nationals in Karnataka and 114 illegal Bangladeshi nationals have been deported from Karnataka,” his response stated.  Terming the illegal immigrants a “security threat” as well as an “economic threat”, Tejasvi Surya said that NRC must be extended to Karnataka “to weed out these Bangladeshis”. He added that they are trying to “change the demography of Karnataka”, and taking away jobs that would be for the locals. “A sovereign state must protect the integrity of its orders and must protect the interests of all its citizens by sending out and deporting illegal immigrants,” he added. A HUGE no. of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants have made Bengaluru their home, posing serious threat to national security while taking away jobs of Indians. Inflow must end NOW & I urge the @HMOIndia to extend NRC to K'taka & Bengaluru to weed them out. @AmitShah @kishanreddybjp pic.twitter.com/GBzGNIYuPO — Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) July 10, 2019 Tejasvi Surya’s demand for extending NRC to the state comes at a time when Karnataka is at an advanced stage of setting up a detention centre for illegal immigrants. The facility aims to detain foreigners staying back without proper documentation. ADGP (Law and Order) Kamal Pant earlier told TNM that only one detention facility would be set up in Karnataka, which is being established in Bengaluru Rural district’s Nelamangala taluk.  Read: A detention centre for undocumented foreign nationals to soon open near Bengaluru At present, NRC is only being implemented in Assam. The draft NRC in the state was published on July 30, 2018, in which the names of 2.89 crore of the 3.29 crore people were included. However, the names of 40,70,707 people were found missing from the list. Of these, 37,59,630 names have been rejected and the remaining 2,48,077 were on hold. July 31 is the deadline for publication of the final Assam NRC.  Independent experts of the United Nations have expressed concern over the millions of people who would be left stateless, especially minorities.

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How negligence led to Bengaluru building collapse that killed a toddler, 4 others

Civic issues

Every once in a while, we are reminded just how life threatening the consequences of these violations can be.

TNM Staff

Rampant construction, encroachments and building violations are not new to cities like Bengaluru. Mostly, it is easy for residents as well as authorities to turn a blind eye to these excesses. However, every once in a while, we are reminded just how life threatening the consequences of these violations can be – and yet, they keep on happening. One such incident happened in the wee hours of Wednesday when two buildings collapsed in Bengaluru’s Thomas Town, near Hutchins Road, leaving at least five dead, including a four-year-old girl. The people who lost their lives were two labourers, and a security guard and his family who were living in the basement of one of the collapsed buildings. The reason for the loss of these innocent lives? Building violations, including a weak foundation. The signs were there too. The under-construction building that collapsed first, leading to the collapse of a second adjacent residential building, was already tilting towards the latter. When the first building collapsed around 2.30 am, the 11 labourers sleeping in the basement of the construction were caught unawares as the pillars gave away. A room in the stilt parking area collapsed, killing Shambu and Khagen Sarkar, both of whom were Bihar natives. The collapse caused the structure to lean on the second building, which also crashed down, killing the security guard, Narayan, his wife Nirmala and their four-year-old daughter, as they were in the house in the parking lot. The residents of the building heard loud cracks and ran down, and even jumped down from the windows and balconies on the first floor. Apart from the Narayan and his family, the 40 residents did not report any more casualties.   The reason behind the collapse of the under-construction building, according to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials, appears to be its weak foundation, that was only about three feet deep. BBMP’s Maruthi Sevanagar sub-division assistant executive engineer Ravikumar told Deccan Herald that the foundation had been improperly constructed on loose soil in the backyard that was next to a graveyard. Further, the builder had taken liberties with the building plan, not following what was approved, and ultimately making an unsafe structure. “The plan was sanctioned for constructing ground plus three floors. The builder had constructed ground plus four floors and penthouses atop, which is one of the reasons for the mishap,” Ravikumar said. The Pulakeshinagar police have registered cases against the owners of the plot of the first building, Mohammed Shoiab and Mohammed Imtiyaz, as well as Pratap Rudrani, the owner of the second building’s plot. The builder, civil engineer and the concerned BBMP officials have also been named in the complaint under section 304 of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). Apart from these two buildings, the residents of a third building, adjacent to the second residential one, were also found to be at risk. This building too was made by the same builder, a fire department official said. As a result, residents of the third building were also made to vacate the structure with their belongings.   The state government has promised Rs 5 lakh compensation to the families of the deceased, that will be recovered from the builders. While some people had bought the flats in the buildings – costing about of Rs 1.5 crore each – with loans, some were living there on rent. 

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SC orders 10 rebel Karnataka MLAs to appear before Speaker by 6pm on Thursday

Law

The Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar will have to take a decision on their resignations.

TNM Staff

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered 10 rebel MLAs, who are in Mumbai, to appear before Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar by 6pm on Thursday. The Speaker will then have to take a decision on their resignations.   The apex court was hearing a petition filed by the 10 rebel MLAs—Pratap Gouda Patil, Ramesh Jarkhiholi, Byrati Basavaraj, BC Patil, ST Somashekar, Arbail Sivaram Hebbar, Mahesh Kumathalli, K Gopalaiah, HD Vishwanath and Narayan Gowda— seeking the SC to direct the Speaker accept their resignations. Appearing before the Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatagi, representing the rebel MLAs said, “We are now 15 MLAs who want to resign but no formal acceptance by Speaker. Idea is not to defect, but resign so that we can go back to public and contest.” However, the order will apply only to the 10 MLAs who filed a petition before the top court.  “The other MLAs can move court today or tomorrow and seek the same order,” Mukul Rohatagi told reporters after the hearing.  "The 10 MLAs have been directed to appear before the Speaker by 6 pm on Thursday, which means, they will fly from Mumbai to Bengaluru. The Speaker is directed to give the MLAs an audience as it is learnt that this has not happened. The case will be placed before the court tomorrow,” Mukul Rohatagi said. The SC has also ordered Karnataka DGP Neelamni Raju to ensure protection to these 10 MLAs who want to meet Speaker to inform him of their resignation. “The DGP Karnataka has been directed to provide police protection to the 10 MLAs when they arrive in Bengaluru. They can tell the Speaker what their issues are and that they have voluntarily resigned. This order is only applicable to the 10 MLAs who have moved to the SC," added Rohatagi. The matter will be heard again at the top court on Friday. Speaking to reporters ahead of the SC’s observation, Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar questioned the motive of the BJP in urging him to make a swift decision. He said, “Why are they so desperate about resignations being accepted of rebel MLAs. There have been numerous instances in the past that decisions were taken in months’ time.” At present, the Congress- JD(S) coalition has just 101 MLAs in the Assembly, including the Speaker and BSP MLA Mahesh. The BJP has 107 legislators including independent MLA H Nagesh and KPJP MLA R Sankar. The majority mark is 105. However, the coalition hopes that they will be able to convince at least a few MLAs to take back their resignations. With Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar saying that the MLAs have to come before him personally to submit their resignations, the Congress hopes that once these MLAs reach Bengaluru, they will be able to meet and convince them.  On the other hand, the Congress had also sought disqualification of these warring MLA on grounds of anti-party activities and has also sought that they be debarred from contesting for elections for 6 years.

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Why politicians in Karnataka are afraid of – and admire – DK Shivakumar’s ‘persuasion’

Politics

As his friends will tell you, Shivakumar is harmless, friendly and even rather charming, as long as you don’t cross his path. If you do however...

Sowmya Aji

Courtesy: PTI

It can only be called DK Shivakumar’s ‘mere paas maa hai’ moment. The swashbuckling leader-turned-measured-negotiator of the Congress party in Karnataka evoked memories of Shashi Kapoor’s iconic dialogue in Deewar when he told TV cameras and policemen waiting to arrest him in Mumbai outside a hotel hosting his state’s rebel MLAs, “I have not come with weapons. I’ve come with a heart.” The policemen were there as the rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs sought protection from meeting him – protection from his legendary abilities of "persuasion". Shivakumar, is known as DK or DKShi, but is more often called unprintable names by those he has subdued, or those who have lost to his extreme shrewdness, his alleged unabashed use of muscle, or a combination of both. And the MLAs know him well. DKShi, a former student union leader, built his wealth and reputation from what his detractors will call "shady" granite mining, real estate and educational institutions. The fear evoked by his tactics of targeted manipulation is well-earned. But he has friends in all political parties including several in the BJP, all of whom genuinely like him. And have business deals with him. He has managed to pull off impossible victories in constituencies that were opposition strongholds year after year and is an election strategist second only to Amit Shah. He is also a die-hard Congressman who has always done what the High Command has asked of him. Currently, he’s being seen as the last pillar holding up the roof over the Congress party. Even as former Chief Minister and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah appears either helpless or quietly manipulative, depending on who you ask. Shivakumar is the man that the BJP fears in Karnataka. He is the one the party has tried the hardest to poach. And he is, perhaps, the one person that BJP national president and home minister Amit Shah has not been able to persuade, possibly because he is of the same ilk. DKShi faced five days of Income Tax raids on his house and on his friends, family, associates and even random connections when he was shepherding 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat in 2017. They were needed to ensure the election of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel to the Rajya Sabha, and the BJP, led by Amit Shah, was trying to prevent it. Unconfirmed reports were floated that valuables worth Rs 300 crore were found on DKShi'd property. But to any and all queries on the matter, he merely said, “Let them give the report first.” A report was filed after several months to show a much scaled down cash seizure of Rs 20 crore, and cases were filed of tax evasion, while Shivakumar was accused of tearing up a sheet of paper that reportedly had details of his major monetary hoard just before I-T officials reached him at the resort where the Gujarat MLAs were stationed. He managed to achieve his political goal however – Ahmad Patel got elected to the Rajya Sabha. But this time, as the Karnataka government is in yet another crisis, he seems to be facing some losses. DKShi made a dramatic late evening dash to Bengaluru’s international airport about 40 km away from the city to stop an MLA – considered to be his man – from joining the Congress-JDS rebels in Mumbai. He failed as the MLA “escaped,” whisked away by a private charter flight minutes before Shivakumar reached there. So, in typical style, DKShi followed him and the others to Mumbai to do what he does best – ‘persuade’ by whatever means necessary. In Kanakapura, the Assembly constituency on the border of Bengaluru city which Shivakumar represents, the common refrain is: “Not a blade of grass moves here without DKShi’s say so. Nobody can cross him." Stories abound of threats and musclemen who grabbed property and threatened people in Shivakumar’s name. But there is a grudging, underlying admiration for the man and his ruthless methods to ensure that his goals are met, even from people who allegedly hate him. He has won without a break since 1989 in the original Sathnur constituency-turned-Kanakapura, defeating every stalwart including former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and his son, the current CM HD Kumaraswamy. The one time he contested for the Lok Sabha from the Kanakapura-turned-Bengaluru Rural constituency, though, he lost to Deve Gowda. He took this loss with his typical shrug and turned his attention to resolving the problem, and pushed his younger brother DK Suresh to stand from this constituency. Suresh is currently the sole Congress MP from Karnataka. As his friends will tell you, Shivakumar is harmless, friendly and even rather charming, as long as you don’t cross his path. If you do, he picks you up by the scruff of your neck and throws you out. Just the threat of facing down this smiling man who reportedly has a wild bull tattoo on his arm, is enough to keep everyone in line. Which is precisely what the MLAs in Mumbai are afraid of. Sowmya Aji is a political journalist who has covered Karnataka for 26 years. Views expressed are the author’s own.

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'Why should I resign', asks Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy

Politics

"Why should I resign? What is the necessity?" he told the media.

TNM Staff

Rejecting speculations that he will resign after the cabinet meeting on Thursday, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy told the media that there was no need for him to resign. "Why should I resign? What is the necessity?" he told the media. When asked how he could continue since 16 MLAs had resigned, Kumaraswamy said, "In 2008- 2009, 18 MLAs had rebelled against BS Yeddyurappa. Did he resign?" Kumaraswamy retorted. The Congress- JD(S) coaltion has just 101 MLAs in the assembly, including the Speaker and BSP MLA Mahesh. However, the coalition hopes that they will be able to convice at least a few MLAs to take back their resignations. With Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar saying that the MLAs have to come before him personally to submit their resignations, the Congress hopes that once these MLAs reach Bengaluru, they will be able to meet and convince them.

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