President’s Rule seems to be on the cards in Karnataka with Governor H R Bharadwaj recommending such a move after Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa won a controversial confidence motion in the Assembly amidst chaos and confusion following disqualification of 16 MLAs.
Bharadwaj sent his report to the Centre, within a few hours after the BJP government won the confidence motion by a voice vote, calling the events and the vote in the Assembly “unconstitutional” and “farce”. He recommended that the state be brought under President’s Rule.
He is understood to have noted that Speaker Bopaiah’s action in disqualifying 16 MLAs — 11 of the BJP and five Independents — was unconstitutional. The Union Cabinet is likely to meet in Delhi tomorrow and consider the Governor’s report.
Bharadwaj had termed the disqualification of independent MLAs under the Anti-Defection Act by the speaker as unethical and wrong, saying it violated the Constitution.
The governor further said the disqualified MLAs and outsiders had no business to be in the house during the vote of confidence, which the Yeddyurappa government won by a voice vote.
Reacting to the governor’s recommendation, Yeddyurappa strongly condemned his action. He said, “I have discussed with our national president Nitin Gadkari. We have decided to parade our MLAs and ministers before President Pratibha Patil in Delhi on Tuesday.”
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Constitutional experts too have slammed Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah, with many saying the latter should have waited till the trust vote was over before disqualifying the rebel MLAs. They said the Independents could not be disqualified under the Anti-Defection Act.
Chief Minister Yeddyurappa proved his majority on the floor of the house by a voice vote, with 106 ruling legislators saying ‘aye’ after speaker K G Bopaiah convened the session at 10 am, as directed by Governor H R Bharadwaj. Opposition Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) legislators, however, cried foul and rushed to the Raj Bhavan to demand the dismissal of the 29-month-old government by the governor.
The 16 disqualified rebel MLAs forcibly entered the lounges of the Assembly, foiling police attempts to block them. The legislators accompanied by JD-S MLAs arrived in the Assembly premises in a bus. When the police declined entry to the rebels and the JD-S men, they forced their way in, triggering scenes of pandemonium.
“It all happened so rapidly, in less than five minutes, that nothing could be seen and heard properly in the house, as the speaker asked the chief minister to move the confidence motion and the BJP legislators raised their hands in support of the trust-vote without allowing us to speak or hold a debate,” Congress legislative party leader Siddaramaiah told reporters.
Immediately after the trust vote was won by the Yeddyurappa government, opposition Congress and JD-S MLAs rushed to the Raj Bhavan and sought dismissal of the BJP government on the ground that it had lost majority.
Siddaramaiah said the House was not in order when the motion was moved and even some MLCs, who are not members of the Assembly, were present. When his party pressed for the division of votes, Speaker Bopaiah did not heed the request and added “division of votes did not happen”. He alleged that the Speaker and the Chief Minister had acted in collusion in passing the motion of confidence by voice vote.
Earlier, in the morning, the speaker disqualified 16 rebel legislators, including 11 from the BJP and five independents. The strength of the 225-member assembly was reduced to 208 and the half-way mark to prove majority dropped to 105. One member is nominated from the Anglo-Indian community.
The 10 disqualified BJP rebels are Gopalakrishna Beluru, Anand Asnotikar, Balachandra Jarkiholi, B N Sarvabhouma, Bharamgowda Kage, Y Sampangi, G N Nanjundaswamy, M V Nagaraju, Shivan Gowda Nayak, S K Bellubbi and H S Shankaralinge Gowda.
The five independents are Shivaraj S Tangadagi, Venkataramanappa, P M Narendraswamy, D Sudhakar and Gulihatti Shekar. Of the 16 disqualified rebels, eight, including three from the BJP and five independents were ministers who were sacked recently for revolting against the leadership.
With the disqualification of 11 rebels, the strength of the ruling party too fell to 106, including the speaker, followed by the Congress with 73 and JD-S 28 and the remaining are six independents.
Within minutes of the motion being declared won by a voice vote, the speaker adjourned the house sine die and left the assembly even as the Congress and JD-S legislators stormed into the well of the house and protested against the way the session was conducted. Gulihatti Shekar, who was disqualified, managed to barge into the house and tore his shirt and vest, and shouted slogans against the government while standing on the desk.
The speaker’s action comes in the wake of the dissident MLAs withdrawing support to the government.
Later, Yeddyurappa told reporters that a comprehensive inquiry would be conducted to expose the “money power” used to lure MLAs by the opposition parties. Alleging that Rs 20 crore to Rs 25 crore was paid to dissident MLAs, Yeddyurappa said he would order a comprehensive inquiry to expose this. “I will not spare them easily. I know from which source the money has come and how much money was distributed to each rebel MLA,” he charged.
He charged the Congress and the JD-S of trying to destabilise his democratically-elected government.
Janata Dal (S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, who has become the rallying point for dissident BJP MLAs and independents in Karnataka, said there were no plans to form an alternative government with Congress in Karnataka.