Bengaluru: The political crisis in Karnataka might end today after the Speaker, K. R. Ramesh, saying that the debate on the trust vote will be completed today. The debate will end with the casting of the vote in favour or against the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. There are also speculations that Kumaraswamy might tender his resignation today.
At present the Congress-JD(S) government is running short of 15 MLAs, who submitted their resignations to the Speaker. Without their votes, the present government will become minority in the House and will lose their legitimacy to continue in power.
The Speaker, who kept on delaying the trust vote by not taking a decision on the resignations letters of the MLAs, too has relented and wants the government to face the trust vote today itself.
Even after the Karnataka Governor asked the Chief Minister to prove his majority in the House, Kumaraswamy cunningly dodged the Governor’s demand. He first said that the debate must go on and kept delaying to face the no trust motion. He then blamed the Governor for interfering in the House and said that he would not allow Modi led central government to control the state government through the Governor.
As options and time are running out for Kumaraswamy, there are reports that suggest that Kumaraswamy will visit the Governor and tender his resignation.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court declined an urgent hearing on the pleas of two independent MLAs asking the apex court to order a floor test by 5 pm today. The Supreme Court said that it will hear the matter on Tuesday.
The present Congress-JD(S) government has only 101 members at present in the 224 member House. The BJP, on the other hand, commands 105 MLAs with other independent MLAs extending their support.