HD Kumaraswamy loses Karnataka Trust Vote, decks cleared for BJP

Politics

The loss comes after the coalition tried to delay the trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly for four full days.

Prajwal Bhat

Soumya Chatterjee

JD(S) chief and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy lost the crucial Trust Vote in the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday. Kumaraswamy himself had moved the motion for the Trust Vote on Thursday, as several MLAs from the Congress-JD(S) coalition submitted their resignations to the Speaker, Ramesh Kumar. However, after four full days of debates and delaying tactics in the Assembly, Kumaraswamy was not able to gain the trust of the House by six votes. Kumaraswamy will now submit his resignation to Governor Vajubhai Vala, and the decks are cleared for the BJP to stake claim to form the next government in the state. Whether the BJP will stake claim or whether the state will now see President’s rule is unclear at this point. The loss comes after the coalition tried to delay the trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly. However, these efforts received a setback when Governor Vaju Bhai Vala gave two deadlines asking the Chief Minister to prove his majority in the house. With the rebel MLAs showing no signs of returning to the coalition and the Speaker unable to delay the trust vote any further, the only options before Kumaraswamy was to lose the trust vote or resign. He chose the former and lost.  While the Congress and JD(S) had formed a sudden coalition in May 2018 and snatched away BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa's dream of becoming CM again, a year later, things have come a full circle, as Yeddyurappa and the BJP have clearly aided much of the rebellion, though they continue to deny any involvement. The politics in Karnataka, which has been unravelling since July 6, has seen all ministers in Kumaraswamy’s cabinet resign to make way for rebelling MLAs, but to no avail. Attempts by Congress’ troubleshooter and former minister DK Shivakumar to reach out to the MLAs, who were camped in a Mumbai hotel, also failed, with the leader even being detained by the police. The end of the road, however, came when more MLAs tendered their resignations and the Supreme Court allowing the rebelling legislators to sit out of the Assembly proceedings. The crisis for the coalition began on July 6 when 12 Congress and JD(S) MLAs submitted their resignations to the Speaker’s office. Just days before that Congress MLA Anand Singh had also tendered his resignation. The disgruntled MLAs accused Kumaraswamy of inefficiency and not taking into confidence the requests put forth by his fellow legislators. Though the coalition has accused the BJP of orchestrating the rebellion and provided proof to support their allegations, the dissent within the coalition, that had been brewing for months, has eventually lead to its collapse. With the fall of the Kumaraswamy government, the floor is now open for BS Yeddyurappa to stake claim. Alternatively, he can wait for bye-elections to be completed and then make a move to form the next government. Karnataka remains a state that has seen only four stable governments that completed its term.

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Prohibitory orders imposed in Bengaluru for 48 hours, pubs and liquor shops shut

Karnataka Crisis

Though prohibitory orders were in place around the Vidhana Soudha building, it has now been extended to the entire city.

TNM Staff

In the midst of the political crisis in Karnataka, Section 144 (unlawful assembly) was imposed in Bengaluru for 48 hours by the Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar, starting from 6 pm on Tuesday. Though prohibitory orders were in place around the Vidhana Soudha building, it has now been extended to the entire city. "Due to the tension prevailing on either side, various political groups gathering here and there and coming face to face with each other, to prevent any untoward incident, we have declared Section 144 all over Bengaluru city police limits and we have also declared that there will be prohibition and all bars, pubs and wine shops will be closed today and tomorrow," Bengaluru Police Commissioner Alok Kumar told the media.  This came just as Congress and JD(S) workers gathered outside an apartment building at Race Course Road, where two independent MLAs – H Nagesh and R Shankar – are reportedly staying. This is where BJP MLA R Ashoka also lives. With this action, liquor stores across the city will be also be shut down. Police sources confirmed to TNM that the prohibitory orders will be in place from 6 pm on Tuesday.  The prohibitory orders come with just minutes to go for the trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly, which was scheduled for 6pm on Tuesday. The JD(S)-Congress government had promised to go ahead with the floor test late on Monday night, with Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar giving the ruling combine the deadline. The latest deadline had come after the ruling coalition had delayed the trust vote from Thursday, bypassing two deadlines set by Governor Vajubhai Vala. The two independent MLAs R Shankar and H Nagesh were spotted walking out of the Nitesh Apartments complex on Race Course Road and within minutes, Congress and JD(S) workers gathered at the apartments in an attempt to block the MLAs from going to the Vidhana Soudha.

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Youth Cong workers protest outside Mumbai hotel housing rebel MLAs, detained

Politics

Renaissance Hotel is where the 15 rebel MLAs of the Congress-JD(S) coalition are holed up since July 6.

TNM Staff

Screengrab

As the drama surrounding the floor test for Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s government stretched on on Tuesday, Mumbai police detained members of the Youth Congress as they started protesting in front of the Renaissance Hotel. This is where 15 rebel MLAs of the Congress-JD(S) coalition who had approached the Supreme Court are holed up since July 6. The protesting Youth Congress workers were immediately detained and put in police vans as soon as they tried approaching the hotel entrance.  The protest came as Congress and JD(S)'s attempts to convince the MLAs to come back to their fold failed. The rebels had also defied summons by the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar to meet him with regard to the disqualification petitions; instead, their lawyers had held a meeting with the Speaker. These 15 MLAs are Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram), ST Somashekhar (Yeshwanthpura), BC Patil (Hirekerur), Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), Prathapgouda Patil (Maski), Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani), K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout), AH Vishwanath (Hunasuru), Narayana Gowda (Krishanarajapete), Munirathna Naidu (RR Nagar), Roshan Baig (Shivajinagar), MTB Nagaraj (Hoskote), K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura) and Anand Singh (Vijayanagara).  Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had also adjourned hearing on Tuesday without passing an interim order on a plea by two independent MLAs seeking an immediate floor test in Karnataka. The case will be heard again on Wednesday. On Tuesday too, the Congress-JD(S) went on to attack the BJP in the Assembly for alleged horse-trading, while the BJP maintained that the floor test was being delayed without any basis. Speaking at the Assembly, Congress troubleshooter and senior minister DK Shivakumar said, “Today I am hurt. My friends in Mumbai (referring to the rebels) have stabbed me in the back. The people who I worked with for decades, with whom I broke bread, and considered family, have broken my trust. They were a part of my political family and they stabbed me in the back. My stomach churns just thinking of it.” As things stand, the BJP has a clear-cut numerical advantage with the support of two independent MLAs.      

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BJP is organising your political funeral: DK Shivakumar’s last-min appeal to rebel MLAs

Politics

Karnataka Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar’s appeal comes with just hours to go for the trust vote deadline, set by the Speaker.

Theja Ram

A pall of gloom has descending on the ruling Congress-JD(S) benches of the Karnataka Assembly. The trust vote is slated to take place at 5pm on Tuesday and Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar's impassioned appeal to the rebels to return seemed like a last-minute attempt to save the government. Known as Congress' Man Friday, DK Shivakumar, who generally exudes confidence in the face of a crisis, turned emotional and accused his "friends in Bombay" (referring to the rebels lodged in a Mumbai hotel) of stabbing him in the back. An angry Shivakumar, whose voice quivered as he made his speech in Karnataka Assembly, vowed that the rebel MLAs would never be made Ministers in the BJP government, if it ever came to be. "I am going to speak. I have every right to. I am deeply hurt and I feel betrayed. The people who I worked with for decades, with whom I broke bread, worked and considered family have broken my trust. They were a part of my political family and they stabbed me in the back. My stomach churns just thinking of it," DK Shivakumar said. Addressing the BJP MLAs in the Assembly, Shivakumar said that his party (Congress) was not delaying the trust vote unnecessarily and that the legislators who were hurt had every right to express their emotions. "I am telling you (BJP MLAs) this. Tomorrow, you will also be stabbed in the back and I am telling you today. Those friends of mine you have under lock and key, they will never be made Ministers if you come to power," he said. Shivakumar appealed to the MLAs to return "home" and accused the BJP of trying to sabotage their political careers. Shivakumar said that the fate of the rebels would be to run from pillar to post, from one court to another, trying to sort out the "mess the BJP landed them in". "I am asking you my friends (referring to the MLAs) please come back. It hurts me to see the BJP organise your political funeral. Next we all must visit you with garlands in our hands to moan the demise of your careers. You cannot become ministers. The BJP is duping you. Open your eyes," DK Shivakumar said. Shivakumar was referring to the MLAs being potentially disqualified under article 164 i (a), where a legislator can be disqualified for aligning himself/herself with another party and also for indulging in anti-party activities. "We don't need to issue a whip to disqualify them. You cannot become ministers (referring to them not being able to take up the post without winning bye-elections)," DK Shivakumar warned. He also issued an open challenge to Hoskote MLA MTB Nagaraj, Shivakumar's trusted associate that his next battle would be to end Nagaraj in his own political game. "When I called MTB Nagaraj, he told me that the BJP would make him a minister... He was my friend. He betrayed me... My next battle will be in Hoskote against him," Shivakumar said. The strength of the Karnataka Assembly is 224 including the Speaker. Currently, the coalition has 100 MLAs on its side including the Speaker and the BSP MLA Mahesh. This after 16 MLAs resigned and two independents withdrew support from the coalition. One of the Congress MLAs, B Nagendra, has been hospitalized, while another legislator Shrimant Patil admitted himself in a Mumbai hospital claiming he was unwell. The BJP has 107 (105 MLAs plus two independents).

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4 dengue deaths reported in Dakshina Kannada as state sees rise in dengue cases

Dengue

Around 400 cases of dengue have been recorded from the district as of Friday, with more than half of the cases being reported from Mangaluru.

Arza Safiya

With the demise of BTV cameraman Nagesh Padu on Sunday, the death toll from dengue in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district has risen to four. Several authorities in the district are stepping up awareness measures to ensure that the spread of dengue is contained.   Four deaths have been reported since the start of July, including 2 children and a woman. The first victim to succumb to dengue was Veena Nayak, a resident of Kadaba taluk, who died in the first week of the month. On July 16, an 8-year-old boy, Krish N Suvarna was the next one to succumb to dengue. Two days later, 12-year-old Shradha Shetty too lost her life after having developed a reaction called ‘Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis' or HLH reaction, which can be seen in severely aggravated cases of dengue. Nagesh and a team of four journalists had visited dengue-affected areas ten days ago to report on the outbreak. While Nagesh succumbed to dengue, the other three have developed fever.  HLH is a rare complication of dengue wherein specific cells of the immune system become too active and result in the onset of a number of related symptoms which may lead to death. Those presenting with HLH often have an enlarged spleen and liver, and possibly may present with multiorgan failure.  Around 400 cases of dengue have been recorded from the Dakshina Kannada district as of Friday, with more than half of the cases being reported from Mangaluru.  District health department officials have stated that the season, with its sporadic rainfall and little sunlight, has resulted in an environment that is suitable for the mosquitoes which are vectors for dengue. They have alerted the public to take precautionary measures such as using repellants, not leave stagnant water pooling around and to wear protective clothing.  Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by one of the five major serotypes (or strains) of the dengue virus. The virus is spread to humans via mosquito bites. Symptoms of the fever typically set in anywhere from three days to two weeks of being exposed to the virus. Story by Story Infinity (Subs and Scribes Media Ventures LLP.)

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'We're hungry': Karnataka MLAs' latest excuse to delay the trust vote

Politics

The legislators of the JDS(S)-Congress coalition wasted no time jumping on the excuse. They weren't just hungry. They were hangry.

Theja Ram

It seemed that the JD(S)-Congress MLAs were out of ideas to delay the trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly session on Monday until Opposition Leader BS Yeddyurappa inadvertently offered a new lease. It was past 10.30 pm and there seemed no end in sight for the session that had begun at 11 am. Any chance of decorum and sensible debate had almost flown out the window when Yeddyurappa raised a crucial question: “Honourable Speaker, can we adjourn for dinner and reconvene? We are willing to wait as long as possible for the trust vote to happen today (Monday) at any cost.” The legislators of the JDS(S)-Congress coalition wasted no time jumping on the excuse. They weren't just hungry. They were hangry. “Yes, yes. Let’s adjourn for dinner and go home. We are all very hungry,” Congress and JD(S) MLAs, who were already in the well of the House, began yelling. A visibly miffed Speaker sat with his head in its hands. Yeddyurappa munched on cashews nuts to satiate his appetite. The Karnataka Assembly session on Monday, which had convened to debate and vote on the motion of confidence, had dragged on for way too long. The deciding trust vote that could make or break the coalition would have to wait another day — dinnertime beckoned, the MLAs argued.  But food wasn't a good enough reason to satisfy everyone. Unwilling to budge, BJP MLA from Tumkur, JC Madhuswamy, stood up and yelled, “It's OK honourable Speaker, we are willing to stay here till midnight, with or without food.” Silence fell upon the House as Madhuswamy’s statement swept across the room. 'Without food' was not an option that the hungry legislators seemed willing to entertain.  Chaos fueled by hanger soon erupted in the house. Intervening on behalf of the MLAs creating a ruckus, Large Scale Industries Minister KJ George said, "Let's adjourn for dinner and reconvene tomorrow (Tuesday). We are all hungry and we can go home, sleep and start fresh in the morning. A lot of our MLAs still have to speak. We can’t finish this today." Leaders of the ruling coalition had been playing a game of one-upmanship with the Opposition – Who will win in the game of delaying the trust vote? The MLAs of the coalition have waxed lyrical about the opposition’s greed for power and their alleged involvement in the horsetrading of MLAs for the last five days.  Each and every legislator, who spoke in the Assembly has said the same thing, over and over again, albeit in different words -- The BJP's involvement in the horse-trading of MLAs and the party's hand in crippling democracy and assaulting the Constitution. The issue had reached its peak on Monday. From the Opposition and the Speaker to the marshals guarding the doors of the Assembly, everyone wanted the issue to be put to rest. “When can we go home? Is this ever going to end? We are hungry, too,” a marshal said. The delaying tactic was getting under the Speaker’s skin. The clock struck 11 pm and yet he refused to budge. "I am willing to order food from a hotel, eat and continue,” Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar said as he ordered decorum in the house. Another bout of sloganeering and shouting began with Congress and JD(S) MLAs shouting. "We are hungry, adjourn the house so we can reconvene tomorrow." It became apparent that the coalition’s MLAs had irritated the Speaker beyond words when Periyapatna MLA Shivalinge Gowda said, “I am diabetic. I don’t have the energy to continue. Please let us go home. Yeddyurappa sir, you are diabetic, too. Please let us adjourn.” Soon, toffees and chocolates were distributed for those who had diabetes and the chaos continued. Holding his head in his hand, a defeated Speaker finally caved to pressure. The sambar rice he had ordered for the MLAs had arrived and a mad rush for dinner ensued. The Assembly was adjourned at 11.30 pm. MLAs, journalists, marshals and bureaucrats, who were still at Vidhana Soudha, began rushing out, hoping for a meal, when one of the marshals announced, “The food is over.”

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JD(S)-Congress continue to delay Karnataka floor test as attention turns to Supreme Court

Politics

As these MLAs remain adamant that they will not return to their respective party folds, the BJP still has a clear advantage.

TNM Staff

As the ruling coalition in Karnataka continues to dilly-dally to delay the floor test, all eyes are now on the Supreme Court. The apex court is set to hear the plea by the two independent MLAs represented by former Attorney General of India, Mukul Rohatgi who had also represented the 15 rebel MLAs. The independents have petitioned the apex court to direct that the floor test be conducted by Monday itself. However, the court did not hear the case until now. Petitions by both the Congress and Chief Minister Kumaraswamy approaching the court seeking clarity over its interim order on the issue of party whip for the rebels is also expected to be heard by a bench led by the Chief Justice of India.   On Tuesday, the political instability, which the state has been facing since July 6, is expected to end after a consistent delay by the ruling coalition. Meanwhile, the rebel MLAs were asked by the Speaker to appear before him by 11 am on Tuesday to defend themselves regarding disqualification petitions against them. As these MLAs remain adamant that they will not return to their respective party folds, the BJP still has a clear advantage. (Note: Please wait for a few moments for the live blog to load. If it doesn't, disable your Adblocker.) 

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