Face of Nation : A day before Karnataka’s newly sworn-in Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa faces a trust vote in the Assembly, Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar disqualified 14 rebel lawmakers on Sunday. 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, 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.
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.
