Karnataka crisis moves to Supreme Court; assembly speaker buys time to verify resignations of MLAs, Congress and JD(S) leaders protest against BJP 

The Karnataka state assembly house.

New Delhi: After 10 rebel MLAs personally submitted their fresh resignations to assembly speaker KR Ramesh Kumar in Bengaluru, he ruled out any immediate decision on the matter despite a Supreme Court order.

The political turmoil in Karnataka and Goa spilled over to another day as Kumar said he cannot be expected to work at “lightning speed”. He added that the letters were in the “right format” but he would examine whether they are “voluntary and genuine”.

Kumar also said that “the proceedings of today have been videographed” and will be sent to the Supreme Court registrar general.

However, JDS swiftly moved to disqualify its three rebel MLAs – AH Vishwanath, K Gopalaiah and Narayana Gowda – but Kumar said he can’t take cognizance of the plea as it was not filed in the proper format.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and Union minister Pralhad Joshi asked the speaker to take a decision at the earliest and not drag the ongoing constitutional crisis in the state.

In total, 16 MLAs – 13 from the Congress and three from the JD(S) – have resigned over the last week, pushing the coalition government to the brink of collapse. Two independent MLAs have also withdrawn support to the 13-month-old coalition government.

Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao also appeared before the speaker in connection with a petition they had moved seeking disqualification of rebel party MLAs.

Kumar, while interacting with media, said, “The MLAs approaching the apex court had made things look murky.”

While the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that the Karnataka government has been reduced to a minority and has demanded Kumaraswamy’s resignation, a number of top Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Anand Sharma, protested in the Parliament complex and carried placards with messages like “Save Democracy”.

On the other hand, Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, in a tweet, said, “The coalition in the state would remain steady despite efforts to destabilize it,” rejecting the demands of his resignation as the state Cabinet met and resolved to face the situation “bravely” and “withstand” it unitedly.

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