23-7-2019

HD Kumaraswamy’s govt falls, loses trust vote in

Karnataka Assembly

Kar Nataka

"The government received 99 votes, while 105 members have voted

against it," Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar confirmed after counting the votes.

Kumaraswamy moved the trust vote on July 18 but the process of

conducting the vote had been affected by procedural aspects of the
legislature. The vote was conducted today [23 July, 2019] after three
missed deadlines set by Governor Vajubhai Vala.

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday [21st July 2019]

attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the crucial floor test on
Monday [22nd July].

In a statement, Kumaraswamy also said that he was immensely

pained and disgusted that "the BJP has not only taken Karnataka's political

1
scenario to a new low but also set a new benchmark in the country for
immoral politics".

Asserting that all the developments that have happened in last few
days were only to "capture power through immoral and illegal ways" by the
BJP, Kumaraswamy alleged that the saffron party even got Raj Bhavan to
set deadlines for the trust vote.

The Karnataka chief minister also appealed the rebel MLAs to attend
the assembly session and narrate how the BJP took them away forcefully
and how it "sabotaged democratic edifice and destroyed its sanctity".

“I also want to tell such MLAs that let there be no hesitation. Let us sit
together and discuss all the issues including your problems, if any, and
arrive at a solution to save this democratically elected government.“ he
said. ‘Coalition going strong’, Kumaraswamy put up brave face.

Kumaraswamy ended with: "Let us strive together to save democracy

and protect the spirit of Country's Constitution."

The rebel Karnataka MLAs said that they did not come to Mumbai for
money but to teach the Congress - Janata Dal (Secular) coalition
government a lesson. They also denied the reports that the rebel MLAs
from the Congress and the JD(S) were offered money to switch sides.

The rebel MLAs are currently camping in a hotel in Mumbai,

Maharashtra. The statement of the rebel MLAs has come just a day before
the Karnataka assembly floor test on Monday / Tuesday.

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 Concerned over another delay, two independent Karnataka
lawmakers have decided to approach the Supreme Court seeking a
direction to the state government to conduct the floor test.

Morning, Friday, 19-7-2019

Even though the 15-month-old Congress-JD(S) government slumped

into a minority earlier this month following the resignation of the dissident
legislators; including 13 Congress and three JD(S) MLAs, the most
honorable speaker of the house is examining whether the resignations
were voluntary or not and in genuine format. A floor test would be allowed
only after twenty to twenty-three MLAs complete speaking.

The Congress-JDS coalition appeared to “have lost majority /

confidence of the House”.

Both Congress and BJP are moving petitions before the Chief Justice
of India. Sources say Congress will seek clarification on whether a whip
can order or insist that the rebel MLAs attend trust vote proceedings. On
the other hand, BJP is likely to move the Supreme Court, seeking an
immediate floor test without further delay.

Karnataka chief minister HD K on Friday resumed the debate on the

trust motion alleging that the BJP was trying to topple his government
adding, ‘the seat isn’t important for me’.

“I’ll see how long you (BJP) will last here after this effort you’ve put
into coming to power,” the beleaguered chief minister said.

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 .

17-7-2019

In an interim order passed to maintain ‘constitutional balance’, the

Supreme Court on Wednesday said while no time frame can be set for the
Speaker to take a decision on the resignations of Karnataka rebel MLAs,
the lawmakers also could not be forced to attend the trust vote scheduled
for Thursday.

“Speaker should be free to take a decision, should not be fettered by

any court direction,” the top court bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi said
while adding ‘can’t compel MLAs to attend asembly’.

Sixteen MLAs — 13 from the Congress and three from JD(S) — have
quit since July 7, pushing the Congress-JD(S) coalition government to the
brink of collapse.

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 Speaker Ramesh Kumar: According to our rules, there is no
opportunity to go for division without discussion. I know you are in a hurry
but that is not possible. It is up to the chief minister to respond to the letter
Governor wrote to him.

Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar is yet to accept the

resignations but if he does so the 15-month-old coalition would be reduced
to a minority in the assembly. The strength of the 224-member Assembly
would be reduced to 209 if the speaker accepts the 16 resignations.

16TH NIGHT, July, 2019.

Supreme Court heard the petition by 15 rebel MLAs of ruling

Congress-Janata Dal (Secular), seeking action against Speaker K R
Ramesh Kumar for deliberate delay in acceptance of their resignations.

On July 12, the apex court had heard the plea of 10 rebel MLAs and
had decided to examine "weighty" constitutional issues in the resignation
and disqualification of the rebel MLAs on Tuesday. The court on Monday
allowed five other MLAs to club their petition with ongoing case. The apex
court on July 12 had asked the speaker to maintain status quo on the
issue. SC passed orders on Karnataka case on 17th at 10:30 am.

There was no fetter on the power of superior courts to direct the

Speaker. He must be asked to decide on the resignations. There is no
material to show it (resignation) is not voluntary.

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 The resignation of the MLAs was voluntary and that it was absurd to
demand proof when they had appeared in person and tendered their
resignations.

The ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka will have to prove

majority on the floor of the assembly on (19th) Friday by 1:30pm as per
Governor’s direction. The trust vote is necessitated by mass resignation of
16 legislators earlier this month that plunged the HD Kumaraswamy-led
government into deep turmoil. Governor Vajubhai Vala had sent a letter,
his second on the trust vote, to Kumaraswamy on Thursday setting a 1.30
pm deadline on Friday to prove his government’s majority in the assembly.

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July 14, Sunday, 2019

Making another about turn, housing minister and Congress MLA MTB
Nagaraj on Sunday flew to Mumbai on a chartered plane and headed
straight to the five-star hotel where 12 other rebel MLAs have been
camping.

Nagaraj flew to Mumbai about 12 hours after he had said outside

former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s house that he would return to the
Congress fold and convince another rebel, K Sudhakar, to return to the
grand old party as well.

Later in the day, addressing a press conference at the Mumbai hotel,

Nagaraj said there was no question of him taking back his resignation. “I
said Sudhakar and I had resigned together and that I would try and
convince him to take back his resignation, and that I would do so only if he
agreed. Even now I will speak to Sudhakar and come to a decision. There
is no question of me taking back my resignation,” he said.

Kumaraswamy has already said that he will seek a trust vote in the
coming week.

“I will request CM HD Kumaraswamy to resign immediately because more

than 15 MLAs from JD(S) and Congress and also two independent
Ministers have resigned and they have reflected that they will support BJP,"
state BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa said.

***

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Kumaraswamy wants floor test, SC asks Speaker to not act on
resignations; the political crisis in Karnataka refuses to die down even after
a week. Exactly seven days after the whole turmoil started with 13 MLAs of
the JDS-Con. coalition resigned.

© India Today Web Desk

The political crisis in Karnataka continues to dominate headlines even after

a week since the 13 MLAs resigned. Here's all that happened on Friday

On Friday [12th July], Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy sounded

confident and called for a floor test to prove the government's majority even
though a total of 16 MLAs of the coalition have resigned.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court restrained Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh

Kumar from taking any decision on the resignation and disqualification of
10 rebel MLAs.

Here are the top 10 developments from Karnataka today:

1. The Supreme Court on Friday asked Speaker Ramesh to not take any
decision on the disqualification or resignation of the 10 MLAs whose
resignations were found not in the right order.

2. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha

Bose said the matter will be considered by it on July 16 and status quo as
of Friday should be maintained.

3. As his government teetered on the brink, Kumaraswamy on Friday

announced that he would seek a trust vote and sought time from the
Speaker.

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4. Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar Friday said a slot would be allotted
whenever the Karnataka Chief Minister opted for it.

5. Speaker Ramesh on Friday said a slot would be allotted whenever

Kumaraswamy opted for it.

6. Four of the fourteen rebel MLAs from Karnataka who are camping in
Mumbai, on Friday visited the famous Siddhivinayak temple and offered
prayers to Lord Ganesh.

7. On Friday all three parties moved their MLAs to different resorts. As

Kumaraswamy called for a floor tests, BJP also moved its MLAs to the
Ramada resort.

8. The JDS has chosen the serene surroundings of Nandi Hill on the city
outskirts while its partner Congress opted for the Taj Yeshwantpur in
Bengaluru to horde its MLAs.

9. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi said, "BJP uses money to bring down state
governments. They have been doing that. We saw that in the North east as
well."

10. The coalition government, which has been shaky since it came into
being last year after a post-poll arrangement in the wake of a hung verdict,
is facing a serious crisis now with 16 MLAs - 13 of the Congress and three
of the JD(S) - resigning their assembly membership.

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Afternoon-4.30, 12-7-2019, Karnataka C. M., Kumaraswamy on Friday
said he would seek a trust vote and asked Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar to
fix the time for it, reported PTI.

This came soon after the Supreme Court posted the rebel MLAs' case for
hearing on July 16 and banned the Speaker from deciding on
disqualification or resignations till then.

"I am ready for everything and am not here to cling to power… Have
decided to seek trust vote, please fix time for it," Kumaraswamy said in
Assembly, which met in Bengaluru amid a flurry of political developments
that have pushed his government to the brink of collapse.

Since Saturday, 16 MLAs from the coalition have put in their papers. If
accepted, it will push the ruling alliance into a minority in the 224-member
assembly.

The past week has seen frantic efforts by coalition troubleshooters to save
the government with Congress's DK Shivakumar camping 5 hours outside
a Mumbai hotel to meet rebels and finally being detained and sent back.

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The Congress also rushed senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to Bengaluru
even as the CM made all ministers resign to send conciliatory signals to the
rebels

Kumaraswamy in a tweet late Thursday night said: "Congress-JDS coalition

in the state is going strong despite the efforts to destabilise. We are
confident and prepared for a smooth and fruitful conduct of legislative
sessions.

‘Coalition going strong’, Kumaraswamy puts up brave

face amid crisis in Karnataka:

12-7-2019

The coalition crisis in Karnataka not only stirred drama in Bengaluru

and Mumbai but also in Delhi on Thursday. Thursday turned out to be very
dramatic with the Congress in Delhi alleging that the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) was involved in poaching their MLAs and destabilising their
government in Karnataka to the assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar
ruling out any immediate decision on the resignation of rebel MLAs in the
crisis-hit ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition.

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The Speaker also said he cannot be expected to work at "lightning speed".

(He prefers to work at ‘tortoise speed’.)

How the drama unfolded:

The 14 rebel MLAs flew down from Mumbai to Bengaluru to meet

Karnataka assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar as directed by the
Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court asked the Speaker to decide "forthwith" about the
resignation of 10 rebel MLAs, allowing them to meet him at 6 pm. A bench
headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the decision taken by the
Speaker has to be intimated on Friday when the court takes up the plea by
the rebel MLAs.

Security was beefed up at the Vidhana Soudha from the gates to the
Speaker's chamber. The MLAs were provided with a police convoy to
ensure their safety.

The rebel MLAs met the Speaker and handed over their resignation in a
proper format and asked him to accept them.

What the Speaker said:

Later, speaking to the media, Speaker Ramesh Kumar denied the

allegations that he was deliberately making a delay in accepting the
resignations of the JDS, Congress MLAs and accused the rebel MLAs of
misusing the functionary of the nation.

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"It is not just about accepting and rejecting a resignation. Should I be
working at lightning speed? For whose sake? What about the rules," asked
the Speaker.

"The MLAs don't communicate with me and rush to the Governor. What
can he do? Is it not misusing the functionary of the nation? They
approached the Supreme Court also. They [MLAs] sat in Mumbai and went
to Supreme Court and accused me of delaying," he said.

Ramesh Kurma said almost all resignations by MLAs were in the proper
format but he was under "no obligation" to act in haste until he was
convinced that they were genuine and voluntary.

Asserting he will abide by the rules, the Speaker said he will take a "just
decision which may be of convenience to some and inconvenience to
some."

The Karnataka Speaker has now decided to look through the resignations
overnight and see if they amount to defection.

Speaker is biased, said BJP:

The BJP has, however, pointed fingers at the Speaker, accusing him of
being biased. "The Speaker is influenced and prejudiced and has no
authority to delay despite the Supreme Court's directions," BJP Karnataka
in-charge Muralidhar Rao said.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said the Speaker of
the Karnataka Assembly should take a decision on the resignation of the
MLAs at the earliest and should not drag the ongoing constitutional crisis in
the state.

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Coalition puts up brave face

The Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition wore a brave face before the
media and claimed that they hold the majority. The coalition government
also claimed that it will pass through if there is a no-confidence motion
passed by the BJP.

Speaking exclusively to India Today TV, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy

said, "Why should I resign? I have my MLAs with me and I have the
majority."

He later tweeted: "Congress -JDS coalition in the state is going strong

despite the efforts to destabilise. We are confident and prepared for smooth
and fruitful conduct of legislative sessions."

Congress issues whip to MLAs

Meanwhile, the Congress has issued a whip to all its MLAs, asking them to
vote in favour of the party if there comes a need to vote. In case of a
violation, action will be taken as per the anti-defection law, the directive
states.

The JD(S) has also initiated a disqualification petition against their three
rebel MLAs Narayana Gowda, Gopalaiah, and H Vishwanath.

In 'Operation Kamala' Karnataka 2.0, Mumbai played a big role by not only
keeping a group of 14 Congress and JD(S) together but also keeping them
away from DK Shivakumar.

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Interestingly, when 'Operation Kamala' was tried in Karnataka the first time
in 2018, BJP Mumbai president Ashish Ahelar was given responsibility to
tackle the rebels. This time, the saffron party picked BJP MLC Prasad Lad.

Where are the rebel MLAs?

The on Thursday after submitting their resignations to the Assembly
Speaker in Bengaluru fourteen rebel MLAs from Karnataka returned to a
luxury hotel in Mumbai, a local BJP leader said.

The MLAs have returned to the Renaissance hotel in suburban Powai and
they would be staying there for another two days, the leader said.

Karnataka MLAs Resignation Case: Supreme Court &

Speaker on 11 July 2019:

Hours after the Supreme Court ordered him to decide on the

resignation letters by rebel legislators by the end of day, Karnataka
Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar on Thursday rushed back to the top court to

15
underscore that he could meet the Congress and Janata Dal Secular rebel
lawmakers in line with the top court’s ruling but may not be able to spell out
his decision today.

The speaker argued that the speaker needed time to verify if the
resignations tendered by the MLAs were voluntary or forced. It argued that
such an inquiry could not be completed in such a short notice.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said it would take
up the speaker’s request tomorrow morning.

On a petition filed by 10 rebel Karnataka lawmakers that accused the

speaker of sitting on their resignation letters, the Supreme Court had
“requested” the speaker to grant the legislators an audience at 6 pm.

If they stick to their resignation, the court order said, “the Hon’ble
Speaker shall take a decision forthwith, and in any case, in the course of
the remaining part of the day,” the Chief Justice’s bench that also
comprises justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, said.

“Such decision of the Hon’ble Speaker as may be taken in terms of

the present order be laid before the court tomorrow,” the bench said in its
order, effectively telling the speaker to wrap up its decision by today.

Ten rebel MLAs had yesterday moved the Supreme Court against
assembly speaker KR Ramesh Kumar’s decision to hold off on accepting
their letters of resignation.

In their petition Pratap Gouda Patil, Ramesh Jarkhiholi, Byrati

Basavaraj, B C Patil, S T Somashekar, Arbail Sivaram Hebbar, Mahesh

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Kumathalli, K Gopalaiah, H D Vishwanath and Narayan Gowda, have made
chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Kumar and the Centre as respondents.

Kumar had rejected eight of 14 resignations that he had received,

and said the remaining six lawmakers would have to meet him in person
and convince him that their offers to demit office were not coerced. The
meetings were initially planned to begin on Friday and continue through
much of next week.

Thursday, 11-7-2019
10 rebel Karnataka MLAs told by Supreme Court to
appear before Assembly Speaker at 6 pm
The 10 rebel Congress-Janata Dal Secular lawmakers who weren’t getting
an early appointment with Karnataka Assembly speaker KR Ramesh
Kumar should meet him at 6 pm in his office, the Supreme Court ordered
on Thursday

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi also ordered that the
speaker would have to call on the resignations by the end of day and place
his decision on the letters before the bench tomorrow morning.

The top court’s order implies that the Karnataka political crisis, which had
been kept in a limbo by the speaker, is in homestretch.

The bench, responding to concerns about the security of the lawmakers

who are sequestered in a Mumbai hotel, said the legislators could request
protection from the Karnataka police chief.

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The top court said the rebel MLAs, if they want, could intimate their
decision to resign to speaker Ramesh Kumar.

The assembly speaker would have to take a call on the resignation letters
during the day. “The order of the speaker will be placed before us
tomorrow,” Chief Justice Gogoi said on a petition by 10 Congress-Janata
Dal Secular lawmakers who complained that the speaker had been sitting
on their resignations to help the HD Kumaraswamy government survive.

The coalition government that had been hanging by a thread came

one more step closer to a collapse when two more Congress lawmakers
handed over their resignation letter to speaker K R Ramesh Kumar.

The speaker had called the two for their exit interview on July 17.

Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara: We have approached the

Supreme Court to contend two major issues:

(1) Parties have the right to issue whips to their legislators & this
cannot be taken away by any court.

(2) When the house is in session, Governor can't issue directions or

deadlines to when we should have a trust vote.

'Time for coalition government over': Yeddyurappa

On Karnataka
10-7-2019
BS Yeddyurappa, former chief minister of Karnataka and state BJP
Chief, spoke to NDTV on the political crisis in the state.

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 He said Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy should realise the "time for
his coalition government is over" Mr. Kumaraswamy "should step down as
the coalition government is now in a minority," he said.

He also said the BJP was looking after the legislators who have
resigned from the JDS-Congress coalition. Mr. Yeddyurappa spoke to
NDTV's Maya Sharma at the venue of a protest by the BJP against the
state government.

As the Karnataka crisis deepens, two more Congress MLAs- MTB

Nagaraj and K Sudhakar, Chairman of the state pollution board submitted
their resignation to the Speaker of the assembly in Bangalore on
Wednesday.[July 10th]

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 Both MLAs are considered to be loyalists of former chief minister
Siddaramaiah and found places in the coalition government of the
Congress-JDS following the intervention of the senior leader.

Nagaraj had earlier on Wednesday stated that MLAs were quitting the
coalition due to the frequent interference in their constituencies and
ministries by Chief Minister Kumaraswamy and his brother H D Revanna.
Nagaraj who is a member of the OBC Kuruba community is one of the
richest MLAs in Karnataka with huge land interests.

The second MLA Sudhakar was part of a rebel Congress group that
was lured by the BJP in January ahead of an assembly session. He
returned to the Congress fold after the BJP aborted its plans to get a large
number of MLAs to defect following the release of an audio recording by
Kumaraswamy of conversations of BJP leaders negotiating with an MLA’s
son. Sudhakar whose appointment as the chairman of the state pollution
board was initially opposed by Chief Minister Kumaraswamy was
accommodated last month as part of a Congress-JDS truce to keep the
coalition intact.

The resignation of the two Congress MLAs takes the total of coalition
MLAs who have resigned to 16. The Speaker of the state assembly
rejected the resignation of nine MLAs on Tuesday for technical errors in the
format of the letter given to the Speaker.

A total of 13 Congress MLAs and three JDS MLAs are among those
who have given their resignations. If the resignations are accepted by the
Speaker the strength of the coalition will fall to 101 compared to the BJP’s
105 plus two Independents.

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 Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, has been watching the
tumultuous events of Karnataka politics - and says the next step will be for
Constitutional authorities to decide. He said that it was Suprabhata or a
good morning greeting for BS Yeddyurappa to say Karnataka chief minister
HD Kumaraswamy should quit. And he is convinced the BJP paid
legislators to cross over to their side.

Ten rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs of Karnataka have moved the Supreme

Court alleging that the Speaker was not deliberately accepting their
resignations.

The MLAs alleged that the Speaker "was abandoning his constitutional
duty and deliberately delaying acceptance of their resignations".

Soon after the dissident MLAs approached the apex court, SC took note of
the submission of rebel MLAs and said it will see whether their pleas can
be listed on Thursday.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took note of the

submission of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the rebel
MLAs, and assured him that it will see whether their petition can be listed
for an urgent hearing tomorrow (Thursday).

The state Assembly Speaker on Tuesday held that the resignations of

eight out of 13 rebel MLAs are not in order.

The Speaker told reporters that the resignation letters of eight MLAs were
not in the prescribed format and he has asked them to submit them
properly.

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The fate of the 13-month-old JD(S)-Congress government led by Chief
Minister H D Kumaraswamy is hinged on the Speaker's decision on the
resignation of the 14 MLAs.

A total of 13 MLAs, 10 of the Congress and 3 of the JD(S), submitted their

resignation to the Speaker's office on Saturday triggering a fresh political
crisis

11-7-2019

It was in May 2018 that the people of Karnataka voted for a new assembly.
But if the current political crisis in the important southern state continues
unabated, Karnataka could well be voting for a new government.

Here’s why: On July 6, 10 MLAs of the Congress and three of the

Janata Dal (S) — the two parties run a coalition government in the state —
submitted their resignations to the Speaker, Ramesh Kumar, who was on
leave. The rebel MLAs also met Governor Vajubhai Vala and then flew to
Mumbai.

On July 8, independent MLAs Nagesh and R Shankar followed suit.

On July 10, two more Congress MLAs resigned, taking the number to 17.
The resignations were meant to coincide with the return of Chief Minister
HD Kumaraswamy from the United States, who has blamed the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) for engineering the dissent drama. Meanwhile, other
ministers have also resigned, saying that they want to give a free hand to
the chief minister to accommodate the rebels in plum ministries. The
Congress’s crisis manager, DK Shivakumar, is now camping in Mumbai,
trying to placate the rebel MLAs. But his efforts may not bear fruit since the
rebel MLAs have approached the Mumbai police for “protection”.
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 The Karnataka assembly has 224 seats, of which the BJP has 105
and the coalition had 119 until recently. If the resignations are accepted by
the Speaker (he has ruled that they cannot be accepted as they are not in
the prescribed format and so have to be resubmitted), and more
resignations happen, the coalition will be reduced to a minority.

If rebel MLAs then go on to join the BJP during a no-confidence

motion that the BJP is most likely to move against the Congress-JDS
government on July 12, it is advantage BJP. This is what the saffron party
would also prefer, instead of going for an election.

The key question is what lies at the root of such a drama in the state?

On the surface, there are many reasons: veteran Congressman and

former state home minister Ramalinga Reddy is upset over being sidelined
by Kumaraswamy, state Congress president G Parameshwara and young
leaders such as Dinesh Gundu Rao and Krishna Byre Gowda. Then there
are loyalists of former chief minister Siddaramaiah, such as actor BC Patil
and Bangalore MLA and controversial real estate baron Muniratna Naidu,
who feel that they were sidelined by the CM. On the JD (S) side, party
president AH Vishwanath resigned for more or less the same reason.

Karnataka suspense lingers as speaker sends back resignations of 8

MLAs Congress must take a call on leadership, urgently. But the root of the
rebellion is the old mega feud between two political titans: Congress’s
Siddaramaiah and JD(S)’s Deve Gowda. The latter won the last round in
May 2018 with the ouster of Siddaramaiah and installing his son,
Kumaraswamy, in the CM’s seat. But a year later, Deve Gowda faced a
humiliating defeat in the general elections. He felt that his grandson Nikhil

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Kumaraswamy’s defeat in the party bastion, Mandya, was engineered by
the Siddaramaiah camp.

Now the resignation of Siddaramaiah’s loyalists indicates that this

round has gone to their leader. According to reports, Siddaramaiah had
complained to Rahul Gandhi about growing discontent in the coalition
ranks. Deve Gowda, in turn, also complained to Gandhi that all this was
Siddaramaiah’s manipulation.

There is a saying in Kannada ‘Ibbara jhagala, moornevana laabha’

(When two men fight, the third man gains.) This is exactly what has
happened in the state. The BJP has been nursing its grouse after the
closely-fought assembly election and has now found the perfect time to
strike.

If there is indeed a change in government, the BJP will add another

feather to its cap after winning 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats. While B S
Yeddyurappa, a Lingayat strongman and former CM, who ensured the
saffron party’s victory for the first time in 2008, does not command the
same authority anymore, there seems no alternative as of now. But as
neighbouring states Tamil Nadu and Kerala get ready for assembly polls
next year, coming to power is what matters most to the BJP in its gateway
to the South, not the man on the throne.

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