Bangalore: Kumaraswamy Forwards BJP Ministers' Resignations to Governor
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'Dosti' that crumbled
Bangalore, Oct 7: Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday forwarded the resignations of 18 ministers of the BJP to Governor Rameshwar Thakur for acceptance.
"I have sent in the resignation letters of BJP ministers to the Governor for acceptance", Kumaraswamy told PTI tonight. Kumaraswamy's action came on the eve of BJP withdrawing support to his government.
BJP ministers resigned en masse on October 2 after Kumaraswmay refused to honour power transfer agreement. Minister for Tourism Sriramulu had already sent in his resignation on September 29 under directions of the party.
Agency reports:
JD-S MLAs' disqualification petition hearing adjourned to Oct 12
Bangalore: Amid the breakup of the JDS-BJP coalition in the state, the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker Krishna on Saturday adjourned to October 12 the hearing on petitions filed before him seeking disqualification of JDS MLAs including Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
No reason to defer Saturday's hearing has been cited, sources in the Legislature Secretariat said.
GV Srirama Reddy (CPI-M), S Rajendran (CPI) and Vatal Nagaraj (Vatal Party) had filed a petition last year seeking disqualification of Kumaraswamy and 35 of his supporters after they joined hands with the BJP to form the government under the provisions of the Anti-Defection Laws.
JDS leader D Manjunath had also filed a similar petition seeking disqualification of former deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah and his eight supporters on charges of indulging in anti-party activities.
Siddaramaiah has already quit JDS and successfully contested the Chamundeswari assembly seat in the by-election on Congress ticket. However, eight of his supporters still remain as JDS legislators.
Another petition seeking disqualification of former minister PGR Sindhia, after he fell out with the JDS following the party aligning with the BJP, had been filed by the party MLA Muniswamppa.
Gowda goes secular after BJP blow
New Delhi/ Bangalore: Elections appear inevitable in Karnataka unless the Congress steps in, after the BJP decided to withdraw support to the H D Kumaraswamy government on Saturday.
The Janata Dal (Secular) declared it would go to the people to “save Karnataka from the communal forces” soon after coalition partner BJP announced its decision. The split came after the JD(S) last night refused to transfer power.
While the BJP described the refusal as the “worst kind of political betrayal” in Independent India, JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda argued the “painful decision” was taken to protect Karnataka from becoming a Gujarat-like “Hindutva laboratory”. The parties were allies for the past 20 months.
Gowda had met BJP president Rajnath Singh late last night and asked him to let his son Kumaraswamy continue as chief minister. The BJP, which held its parliamentary board meeting today, refused.
When the alliance was sealed, the parties had agreed that they would each hold the chief minister’s post for 20 months, with the JD(S) going first.
Asked why any party should trust him now, Gowda said the Karnataka coalition was essentially a “state-level arrangement” and the national leadership of the JD(S) was always opposed to any understanding with communal forces.
The JD(S) had pulled out of a Congress-led government to forge the alliance with the BJP.
On Saturday, Gowda alleged that a section of Congress leaders had tried to destroy his party, prompting his son to turn to the BJP. But now when the BJP has “vitiated” the atmosphere by “making wild charges” against the chief minister and the Sangh parivar “has been trying to whip up communal frenzy”, he said, the JD(S) national leadership had to end the coalition.
The BJP leadership, which directed its state unit to call on the governor and seek polls immediately, hit back.
Party leader Yashwant Sinha said the BJP had “learnt a lesson” but hoped the people would teach the Gowda father-son duo a lesson.
“They will have to pay a heavy price for this betrayal as the deal was wholly transparent with every aspect clearly spelt out at the joint press conference,” Sinha said. The people would not accept another Congress-JD(S) alliance if there was one, he said.
The BJP is planning to hold rallies across Karnataka tomorrow. Party leaders will sit in dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue on Bangalore’s M G Road before formally handing over a letter withdrawing support to the Kumaraswamy government to governor Rameshwar Thakur.
The party’s candidate for chief minister, B S Yediyurappa, said: “We are ready for polls now.”
His party has 79 members in the 224-member Assembly, the Congress 64 and the JD(S) 48. The remaining seats belong to Independents or small parties.
The Congress is bracing for hectic activity amid rumours that an alliance with Gowda is on the cards. The party is smarting under a poor performance in last week’s urban local body polls where it came a poor third after the JD(S) and the BJP.
But the general mood is to keep away from Gowda. Ramesh Kumar and Siddaramaiah, who crossed over from the JD(S) to the Congress, are against an alliance. So is Kanakapura MP Tejaswini Ramesh, who had defeated Gowda in the last Lok Sabha polls.
Only former chief minister Dharam Singh seems to trust Gowda despite the bitter experience 20 months ago and is hoping to convince the high command to team up with him again.
Congress keeps options open; CLP meeting Sunday
Hindu
Bangalore: The Congress, which had serious reservations about having any understanding with the Janata Dal (Secular), is now treading a cautious path and is awaiting the High Command’s instructions.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjun Kharge told The Hindu that the Congress would initiate the next course of action only after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) officially submitted a letter to the Governor stating that the party had withdrawn support to the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led coalition Government in the State. “We cannot act based on statements in the media,” he said.
Sources in the party said the party had an open mind on aligning with the Janata Dal (S) since the latter had now distanced itself from the BJP. It was mentioned that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had been briefed on the political developments in the State.
Four alternatives
It was said that the Congress could seek to choose any of the following four steps:
- to lead a coalition Government with the support of the Janata Dal (S)
- to extend outside support to the Kumaraswamy Ministry
- to demand that the Legislative Assembly be kept in suspended animation
- or even demand President’s rule until the completion of Assembly elections.
However, keeping the Assembly under suspended animation is difficult at this juncture since Mr. Kumaraswamy has sought to prove his majority on the floor of the House.
Unable to comprehend what has been termed “the mind of the high command”, the KPCC leadership, which had called for a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party on Saturday, decided to defer the meeting to Monday. The Congress leaders met and discussed the latest political developments. The Congress legislators have been directed to remain in Bangalore. It is obvious that in case the Congress decides to call on the Governor to show its strength, then the numbers matter and the legislators have to be present.
Although several senior leaders of the party attended the meeting, it ended inconclusively as the Congress decided to adopt a “wait and watch” policy which it has been mentioning for the last four days after the BJP members in the Kumaraswamy Ministry submitted their resignations to the Chief Minister.
The Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Prithviraj Chavan, who is the AICC general secretary in-charge of the State, is expected to arrive here only on Monday subject to the directions of the high command.
He was originally scheduled to arrive on Saturday. The State Congress leadership has kept Mr. Chavan posted with all the political developments and the views of the State Congress leaders on aligning with the JD(S).
Floor test
The State Congress leaders have raised serious objections to the State Cabinet seeking a session of the legislature from October 18.
The view is that if the Chief Minister is keen on proving his majority in the legislature, he should do so immediately.
The Congress leader and former Speaker Ramesh Kumar said the Congress would urge the Governor not to give the Chief Minister time till October 18 for the floor test. Instead, the Governor should ask Mr. Kumaraswamy to prove his majority “at the earliest.”
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