Karnataka Crisis: Floor test pushed to Monday

Coalition govt defies Governor Vala's orders twice on Friday

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s floor test has been pushed to July 22 after the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition resisted Governor Vajubhai R Vala’s orders twice on Friday, thus dragging the political drama further.

Accusing Vala of overreach, legislators of the ruling coalition shouted “Go Back, Governor!” and dubbed him “BJP’s agent”.

The Governor wanted Kumaraswamy to prove his majority on or before 1.30 pm on Friday. When this was not followed, Vala issued another order asking the CM to take the floor test by the end of the day. Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, however, adjourned the session on the assurance by the coalition that the floor test will happen on Monday.

This sparked off speculation that Vala may consider recommending dismissal of the Kumaraswamy government citing a constitutional crisis.

While this buys Kumaraswamy more time, the weekend will prove a challenge for the ruling coalition and the BJP in keeping their flock together. The Congress moved its MLAs back to a luxury hotel, the JD(S) and the BJP herded their MLAs to resorts.

With 15 MLAs having tendered resignation, the Congress-JD(S) coalition is down to 102 against the BJP’s tally of 107, including two Independents.

“There’s a case before the Supreme Court, which has said in an interim order that the Speaker can use his discretion to decide on the resignation of the MLAs. I won’t criticise the Governor. I’ve already moved the trust motion. I want the Speaker to decide whether the Governor’s direction should be followed,” Kumaraswamy told the Legislative Assembly.

The CM also quoted a Supreme Court order in a case related to Arunachal Pradesh. “The order states that the Governor must remain aloof from political turmoil. The Governor can’t interfere with and act as ombudsman of the state legislature,” he said, expressing an inability to take the floor test.

RDPR Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, said the Governor cannot “manufacture” business of the House. “The confidence motion has been moved, and it is now the property of this House. So, the Speaker has to decide and the Governor can’t intervene,” he said. Gowda accused the BJP of misusing the Governor’s office. “In May 2018, the Governor gave the BJP 15 days to prove majority. Now, he’s giving us 15 hours. Doesn’t this smack of misuse?”

BJP’s Basavaraj Bommai said the Governor had the constitutional right to order a floor test. “In the case of Arunachal Pradesh, the government there enjoyed a majority. The government here does not,” Bommai said. At one point, the Speaker was keen on concluding the confidence motion on Friday itself. “We can’t drag this. I’ve to show my face to the world,” Kumar said.

But it was pushed to July 22 based on requests by the Congress-JD(S) MLAs that they needed to get back to their constituencies. They were hurled back to a resort instead.