Karnataka: Governor's deadline ends. Everyone is clueless about next steps
Defying the order of Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, state Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy didn't prove majority in the House. On Thursday, Vala, in a strongly-worded letter, asked the JD(S) leader to show majority by 1:30 PM. After the session resumed, Kumaraswamy did everything from questioning BJP's intentions to calling himself "accidental CM", but didn't follow the orders. The House was adjourned till 3 PM.
In case you aren't aware, here's what's happening in Karnataka
The Congress-JD(S) coalition was jolted by major crisis after 18 legislators resigned. Both parties scrambled to convince the MLAs but they remained adamant. They went to the Supreme Court to complain about Ramesh for not accepting their resignations. Though the top court allowed Ramesh to take a call whenever he wants, it also said that MLAs can't be forced to attend the floor test.
Yesterday, BJP showed urgency for floor test, Congress stalled it
Now, BJP, led by BS Yeddyurappa, wanted Ramesh to conduct the floor test within a day. But the ruling coalition was opposed to the idea. Congress, which is headed by Siddaramaiah, asked Ramesh to first give clarification on the status of rebel MLAs and then go ahead with trust vote. The grand old party also accused BJP of trying to destabilize the government.
Ramesh claimed he wasn't delaying process, Kumaraswamy slammed BJP
When the session resumed, Ramesh said he was not delaying the trust vote. "You are all killing people like me living with dignity for the sake of your greed and selfishness and your ambition," a visibly upset speaker said. Separately, when Kumaraswamy stood up to speak he hurled accusations at BJP. Reportedly, he kept on insisting that he wasn't interested in "CM's chair".
I am an accidental CM, said Kumaraswamy
"It's true that I am in a similar situation in which Yeddyurappa was when he was chief minister. Power is not permanent and people will come and go. I had never dreamt of becoming the chief minister. I am an accidental chief minister," Kumaraswamy said.
When BJP asked for voting, Ramesh said it isn't possible
Unsurprisingly, the Assembly witnessed a lot of drama in the last couple of hours. Chants of "Go Back Governor" and "Governor is acting like a BJP agent" filled the air. As Vala's deadline neared, BJP MLAs demanded a trust vote. But Ramesh told them, "Unless the discussion is complete you cannot press for the division of votes."
Interestingly, Ramesh put the ball in Kumaraswamy's court
Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar: Governor's order has to be followed or not, it has to be decided by Chief Minister because the letter was sent to him, so he has to decide. pic.twitter.com/DeMtDR6m02
— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2019
