The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka issued a whip to all its MLAs on Wednesday to vote in favour of the motion of confidence that would be moved by chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in the State Assembly on Thursday after a controversial trust vote triggered a political storm prompting governor H.R. Bhardwaj to seek President’s Rule.
The BJP now has a strength of 106 members, including the speaker, in the 224-member House after speaker K.G. Bopaiah disqualified 16 MLAs under the provisions of anti-defection laws.
Governor Bhardwaj had earlier written to Mr Yeddyurappa asking him to prove his majority again on the floor of the Assembly by 11 am on October 14. In his letter, Mr Bhardwaj said the trust vote on Monday was improper and that the BJP government had failed to prove majority.
On Tuesday, the Karnataka high court adjourned the hearing in a case related to disqualification of 16 MLAs by the Karnataka State Assembly speaker, till Monday.
The high court’s bench comprising Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice N. Kumar adjourned the hearing after arguments were concluded on behalf of 11 BJP MLAs and orders were reserved on their petition.
They were disqualified hours before the controversial trust vote won by the Yeddyurappa government in the Assembly on Monday.
Mr Bhardwaj had on October 10 written to the speaker, asking him to conduct the trust vote on October 11 on the basis of the party positions as on October 6 — with the BJP at 116, the Congress at 73, the JD (S) at 28, Independents at six and the speaker.
After the trust vote on Monday, Mr Bhardwaj, had, in a report to the Centre, described the vote as ''a farce'' and recommended the President’s rule. Before the trust vote, the speaker disqualified 16 rebel MLAs, including 11 from BJP, under the provision of the anti-defection law. The disqualification of the MLAs had brought down the strength of the 224-member Assembly to 208.