Resignations of some rebel MLAs 'not in order': Karnataka Speaker
Bengaluru: Karnataka Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar on Tuesday declined to accept the resignations of all the 13 Congress and JD-S rebel legislators, as eight were not in the prescribed format and five needed explanations to ensure they were in accordance with the anti-defection law.
"I have summoned all the legislators of both the parties to meet me on July 12, July 15 and July 21, as their resignations are faulty and explanations are not in accordance with the law under section 202 of the Anti-Defection Act," said Kumar.
Of the 13 legislators, 10 belong to the Congress and three to the JD-S.
On scrutiny, resignations of only five lawmakers were found to be in the proper format.
"As the remaining eight resignations of legislators of both the parties are not in the right format, I have given them time till July 21 to re-submit them and explain reasons for quitting from their respective Assembly constituencies," said Kumar.
The coalition's troubles deepened after two independent lawmakers H Nagesh and R Shankar, who were made ministers last month in an attempt to consolidate numbers, resigned and pledged support to the BJP.
DK Shivakumar accused the BJP and its Karnataka chief BS Yeddyurappa of engineering the resignations and then ferrying the lawmakers to Mumbai on special flights.
The BJP, which failed to form government in Karnataka last year after falling short of a majority, has denied any role in the coalition crisis and has demanded that the Congress-JDS combine be thrown out as it is now in a minority.
The Rajya Sabha Tuesday witnessed uproar over the Karnataka crisis with opposition Congress members storming the well of the House and raising slogans, leading to adjournment of proceedings for the day.
The Upper House witnessed protests by members of Congress, TMC, CPI and CPIM as soon as it reconvened at 2 pm following two adjournments earlier in the day.
The House was adjourned within three minutes as ruckus prevailed.
With the support of two independents, the BJP now has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where the half-way mark is 113. If the resignations of the 14 MLAs (11 of Congress, and three JDS) are accepted, the coalition's tally will be reduced to 102.
