K’taka elections 2018:Congress,JD-S shift MLAs to Hyderabad To Prevent ‘Poaching’

“We have shifted 36 of our legislators in a bus to Hyderabad to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from poaching them to defect,” Janata Dal-Secular spokesman Ramesh Babu told IANS here. JD-S state President H.D. Ku­maraswamy, however, returned to Bengaluru, clarified Babu. The Congress also shifted its MLAs to Hyderabad in a separate luxury bus to prevent the BJP from approaching them.

Party leader D.K. Shivakumar told report­ers here that the priority for the party was to keep its legislators safe. “Our priority is to keep all our MLAs safe and intact. There is a lot of pressure on their families. So some of the legislators have been shifted to Hyder­abad, while some have stayed back in Benga­luru,” Shivakumar said. The Congress leader, however, refused to specify how many legisla­tors were shifted to Hyderabad in neighbour­ing Telangana.

In the May 12 Assembly election in 222 segments, the BJP won 104, Congress 78 and JD-S 37. As Kumaraswamy won from both Channapatna and Ramanagara assembly segments, the party effectively has 37 votes, including one vote from its Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ally, as the JD-S state president can vote for one seat. As the BJP is eight short of the 112-halfway mark for a simple major­ity to win the trust vote, Congress and JD-S which have formed a post-poll alliance, fear their MLAs would be poached to defect the confidence motion.

Confident of proving majority, says BJP

The Karnataka BJP today welcomed the Supreme Court order on the floor test, asserting that Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa would prove his majority in the assembly with the support of over 120 MLAs. “The Supreme Court has or­dered to prove majority in the assembly tomorrow at 4 pm. BJP wel­comes this. We are confident that tomorrow at 4 pm BJP legislators and those supporting it will prove majority,” Karnataka BJP General Secretary Shobha Karandlaje told reporters here.

She said, “The BJP under the leadership of Yeddyurappa has worked enough to prove the majority. With confidence tomorrow at 4 pm we will prove our majority.” The Supreme Court today ordered that a floor test be held in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm tomorrow to ascertain whether newly-appointed BJP Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa enjoys majority.

Responding to a question as to how the BJP would prove majority, Karandlaje said, “Already many people are in touch with us, more than 120 MLAs are supporting us. BJP will prove its majority tomorrow.” Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as the chief minister yesterday.

Governor Vajubhai Vala had given 15 days to Yeddyurappa prove his majority in the Assembly. The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House. The Congress won 78 seats, while the JD(S)

Democracy restored, says Congress

The Congress today welcomed the Supreme Court’s order of holding a floor test in Karnataka Assembly tomorrow, saying the Constitution has won and democracy restored. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala had given BJP Chief Min­ister B S Yeddyurappa 15 days’ time to prove its majority.

Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the Constitution has rejected the “unconstitutional” decision of the Kar­nataka Governor. “Constitution wins, Democracy restored! B S Yed­dyurappa does remain a 1 day CM – Constitution rejects an illegitimate CM as also the unconstitutional decision of Governor of Karnataka (sic),” he said on Twitter.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented the Congress-JD (S) combine in the apex court, termed the Supreme Court’s decision “historic”, and said, “Interim Chief Minister B S Yed­dyurappa has been restrained from taking policy decisions till tomorrow.” The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in Karnataka Assembly, was invited by Governor Vala to form the government despite the JD(S)-Congress combine staking claim by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The majority mark is 112 seats.

In a historic pre-dawn hearing, the top court had yesterday cleared the last-minute hurdle created by the Congress-JD(S) combine for the BJP’s ambitious surge in southern India by paving the way for Yeddyurappa to be sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka.

During the high-voltage hearing, which lasted from 2.11 AM to 5.28 AM, the top court had made it clear that the swearing-in and government formation would be subject to the final outcome of the case. Today, a three-judge bench headed by Justice A K Sikri said, “Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test.” The apex court also directed the Karnataka government and the Governor not to nominate any MLA from the Anglo-Indian community to participate in the floor test tomorrow.

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