The Congress-JD(S) coalition government fell on Tuesday (99 votes to 105) as it failed to rack up enough numbers in the Karnataka assembly trust vote. Seventeen legislators were absent from the session—12 Congress, 3 JD(S) rebels; two Congress members were reportedly hospitalised for ailments. Meanwhile, Youth Congress activists protested outside the Renaissance Hotel in Mumbai where the 15 rebel MLAs are holed up. Bengaluru police announced Section 144 (prohibitory orders) all across the city for a period of 48 hours. Pubs and liquor shops will remain shut.
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The 15 rebel MLAs had earlier resigned, while independent MLAs R. Shankar and H. Nagesh had withdrawn their support to the coalition government. One Congress member Ramalinga Reddy retracted from his decision to resign, saying he would support the government.
The ruling combine's strength is 117—Congress 78, JD(S) 37, BSP 1, and nominated 1, besides the speaker. With the support of the two independents, the opposition BJP has 107 MLAs in the 225-member House which includes the nominated MLA and speaker.
With the 15 rebel MLAs (12 from the Congress and three from the JD(S)) staying away, the ruling coalition's tally plummetted to 102 (including the speaker), reducing the government to a minority.
Now, it is a question of whether the BJP would form the government or the mantle would fall to the president. This is also a sweet revenge of sorts for Yeddyurappa, who felt he was robbed off the chief ministership in 2018 when the Congress-JD(S) joined hands to pip th BJP amid a fractured verdict.
In his speech in the assembly, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had claimed that this was the end of the political career for the 15 rebel MLAs. "No one who has defected since 2013 has won. The same fate awaits the rebels. The sale of MLAs is a shameful act." Congress CLP chief Siddaramaiah said that 99 per cent people in the state knew that the BJP was involved in horse-trading. "Do you think you [Yeddyurappa] can become the chief minister for a full five years? You won't last six months," he said.
Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar, who had engaged in furious last-minute negotiations with the rebel MLAs, said he was hurt by the treason. "Treachery, thy name is politics. I am hurt the way my friends have backstabbed me. We could have easily locked them up [rebel MLAs]. In that case, what would you [BJP] have done? But, they are my friends."
Kumaraswamy and the Congress had moved the Supreme Court on Friday, 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, which they said, caused hindrance in issuing whip to the legislators.
Kumaraswamy on Sunday mounted a scathing attack on BJP, accusing it of touching a new low by by its "immoral politics". "It is a matter of immense pain and disgust that the BJP has not only taken Karnataka's political scenario to a new low, but also touched a new low in the country for immoral politics. The BJP has made a mockery of democracy by taking away several MLAs from ruling coalition forcefully," he said in a statement.
