Why couldn’t Speaker wait till Karnataka HC verdict, asks Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress has attacked Karnataka assembly speaker K G Bopaiah for rejecting the party’s suggestion to hold the trust vote after the high court hearing on disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs.

Terming the second trust vote as sullied, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: “The opposition leader in Karnataka assembly had asked the Speaker to take the trust vote after the high court judgment. But this was rejected. It is clear that BJP wanted to scrape through with money power.”

Congress said that the second trust vote did not prove anything as the constitution of the assembly had not changed since the first trust vote where the 16 MLAs were not allowed to vote. “The intent of BJP was always to convert a minority government into a manufactured majority. This is what it has done in Karnataka today by misusing the official machinery.”

While distancing itself from governor H R Bhardwaj, the party has maintained that the internal troubles of BJP would do the government in. Congress is keenly waiting for the high court’s decision. Law minister M Veerappa Moily said: “The victory of the ruling party in the trust vote is only transitory in nature. No party can run a stable government with this sort of majority.”

CPM joined Congress in attacking the BJP government’s trust vote win. It said the win will not condone the Speaker’s patently illegal action as also the opportunism of the BJP government. “BJP’s Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka has resorted to brazen expressions of political opportunism by adopting worst forms of anti-democratic and unconstitutional methods to remain in office,” an editorial in the People’s Democracy said.

It said there were three patently undemocratic and unconstitutional acts involved in this episode — disqualification of an MLA can only come after the violation of a party whip, independent MLAs can never be disqualified on this count since, by definition, they are independent and the majority needs to be established on the floor of the house through a division of vote conducted by the chair.