JD(S) rebel to move SC challenging Speaker’s disqualification of 14 MLAs

“The speaker has disqualified 20 members of the legislature on the grounds that they have not attended the House…so against this decision pronounced by the Speaker, we are approaching the Supreme Court on Monday,” the MLA added.

Newly sworn-in Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa faces a trust vote in the Assembly on Monday.

With the 17 disqualifications — three Congress leaders were disqualified on Thursday — the strength of the House is reduced to 208, and the majority mark slides to 105. The BJP is now at 105 plus one Independent – putting Yediyurappa on safe ground, for now.

Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, the Speaker said he decided to disqualify 11 rebel Congress MLAs and 3 JDS MLAs for the entire term of current Assembly. This means the disqualified MLAs will not be able to fight elections until the 15th Assembly completes its tenure. “I have used my judicial conscience,” said Kumar.

Follow LIVE updates on Karnataka political crisis

The disqualification under the tenth schedule of the Constitution means the MLAs will be stripped of their status as legislators and not be able to contest an election during the remaining 46-month term of the current Assembly, the Speaker said. The MLAs have the option of legally challenging the decision.

Welcoming the Speaker’s decision, former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah called it a “real victory for democracy.” “The people’s court will also punish these lawmakers for betraying their parties and their people by joining hands with the BJP to bring down the alliance government,” the state unit of Congress said in a tweet

Newly sworn-in Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa Sunday said that he is 100 per cent sure he will prove his majority. “On Monday hundred per cent I will prove the majority,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.

He added that after proving his majority in the Assembly, his government will first take up the Finance Bill.

“The finance bill (appropriation bill) needs to be passed ‘urgently’, as otherwise, we will not be able to draw funds even to pay salaries. I have not even changed a comma or full stop in it. I will be tabling the finance bill prepared by the (previous) Congress-JD(S) government,” Yediyurappa added.

The political crisis in Karnataka erupted after 16 MLAs Congress-JD(S) tendered their resignations to the Speaker. The mass resignations led to the collapse of 14 months-old Kumaraswamy-led government. Many of the MLAs were allegedly convinced to resign by BJP leaders with the assurance that they would not face disqualification. The BJP had staked claim to power after the ruling Congress-JDS coalition government failed the trust vote last week.

READ | From BJP leader Yeddyurappa to Chief Minister Yediyurappa

Disqualified MLAs full list:

Congress

1.Prathapgouda Patil (Maski, Raichur)
2.B C Patil (Hirekerur, Haveri)
3.Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur, Uttara Kannada)
4.S T Somashekhar (Yeshwanthpura, Bengaluru)
5.Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Pura, Bengaluru)
6. Anand Singh (Vijaynagara, Ballari)
7.R Roshan Baig (Shivajinagar, Bengaluru)
8.N Munirathna (Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bengaluru)
9.K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura)
10.M T B Nagaraj (Hosakote)
11. Shrimant Patil (Kagwad,Belgaum)

Read | The Karnataka drama: How events unfolded until fall of Congress-JD(S) govt

JD(S)
1. A H Vishwanath (Hunsuru, Mysore)
2. KC Narayana Gowda, (Krishnarajpet, Hassan)
3. K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout, Bengaluru)