Shortly after the Karnataka Assembly was adjourned on Thursday without a trial of strength, Governor Vajubhai Vala wrote a letter to Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy asking him to prove majority on the floor of the House by tomorrow afternoon.
Vala told Kumaraswamy to prove his government's majority by 1.30 pm on Friday.
Earlier today, the Governor had conveyed to Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar that the government should enjoy the confidence of the House at all times and that the business of confidence vote be completed today itself.
"The motion of confidence moved is in consideration at the house. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is expected to maintain the confidence of the house at all times. I send a message to consider trust vote by the end of the day," Vala said in a message to the Speaker.
This came after a BJP delegation headed by former minister Jagdish Shettar rushed to the Raj Bhavan and met the Governor seeking completion of the business today itself.
After the Assembly proceedings, Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar said that the Governor is officially communicating that MLAs have withdrawn support which means it is a case under the anti-defection law.
"The Governor has written a letter. He said that 15 MLAs have withdrawn support from the government. A Governor certifying that MLAs have withdrawn support in itself proves that it is a fit case under the anti-defection law. A few MLAs have said that they have withdrawn support," he said.
"But officially the Governor communicating to the Chief Minister and the Speaker that the MLAs have withdrawn the support clearly shows that the anti-defection law can come into force," he told reporters here.
"As per the 10th Schedule of the Constitution, they are supposed to lose membership...So, I am appealing the legislators that the BJP is trying to put monkey cap on you, be cautious...," Shivakumar said.
Earlier, senior Congress leader H K Patil questioned the Governor's action in sending the message and asked him not to "interfere" in the House proceedings.
The Speaker acknowledged that he received the message from the Governor about ensuring that the confidence is tested today.
Amid a furore on the issue with BJP members demanding that the confidence motion be put to vote immediately, the Chair adjourned the House till tomorrow.
The BJP announced that its members will spend the night in the House in protest.
Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa, in his speech, said the voting should be held today. "Even if it is 12 midnight, let the trust vote be held today," he said.
Eighteen MLAs were not present in the Assembly as the House took up the vote of confidence for debate.
The MLAs who were absent include Byrathi Basavaraj, Munirathna, S T Somashekar, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Roshan Baig, Srimanth Patil, Anand Singh, B Nagendra, R Shankar, K Gopalaiah, Narayana Gowda, M T B Basavaraj, B C Patil, H Vishwanath, Mahesh Kumthahalli, Prathap Gouda Patil, Dr Sudhakar and Shivaram Hebbar.
The 13-month-old Congress-JDS government had earlier this month slumped into a minority following the resignation of the dissident MLAs. Sixteen MLAs from the ruling coalition including thirteen Congress and three JD(S)MLAs have resigned.
If the dissident MLAs, who are in Mumbai, are counted out, the BJP appears to have the support of 105 MLAs in the 225-member state Assembly including one nominated MLA.
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