The high voltage political drama initiated by the Congress and JD (S) rebel MLAs finally led to the downfall of the 14-month-old HD Kumaraswamy-led Karanataka government after it lost the trust vote on July 23 on the Assembly floor.
The combined tally of Congress and JD (S) in terms of votes declined to 99 legislators in the Karnataka Assembly of 225 members. Thus the government was reduced to a minority. On the other hand, the opposition led by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) voting against the motion of the Kumaraswamy government secured 105 votes.
BJP Gearing Up To Form Govt.
Now that the Congress and JD-secular coalition has lost trust vote in the Vidhan Soudha it is still unclear what will happen next. While talking to media after the trust vote, the state chief of BJP, BS Yeddyurappa said, “It is a victory of democracy. People were fed up with the Kumaraswamy government. I want to assure people of Karnataka that a new era of development will start now.”
The leaders of BJP are now planning to meet Governor Vajubhai Vala and stake claim to form a new government in Karnataka. The swearing-in of ministers is expected to take place on July 25, said party leader Nirani.
Although BJP is claiming it to be a big victory Karnataka Congress considers this as a “temporary defeat for democracy.” Kumaraswamy said he was ready to “happily sacrifice this (CM) position.” The CM also said that he was not interested in dragging the trust vote and said, “I apologize to the Speaker and the people of the state.”
Speaker KR Ramesh announced the result for confidence vote saying, “HD Kumaraswamy has failed the confidence vote, with 99 voting for the government while 105 members have voted against the government.”
Section 144 Imposed After Clashes In Bengaluru
Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar had set a deadline of 6 pm for the trust vote. But minutes before the deadline reports of clashes from Bengaluru surfaced forcing the imposition of Section 144 across the city for the next 48 hours.
The clashes occurred between the BJP and Congress workers after a few members of the coalition allegedly tried to forcibly take away the two Independents and make them participate in the trust vote before the deadline of 6 pm.
Earlier, the crisis started when 13 legislators from Congress and 3 MLAs from JDS submitted their resignations on July 6 whereas two Independent MLAs H Nagesh and R Shankar also decided to withdraw their support to the coalition government.
These MLAs were not present during the vote of trust due to which the coalition government lost power. Congress leader Siddharamaiah has asked for the disqualification of the rebel MLAs who abstained from the trust vote and violated the norms.
Meanwhile, the Governor of Karnataka Vajubhai Bala has accepted the resignation of Kumaraswamy. With not a single party securing an absolute majority in Karnataka assembly it now needs to be seen how long the BJP-led government will last.
