In the first instance of any leader facing a trial of strength in the Legislative Assembly twice in four days, Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will go through another trust vote on the invitation of state governor H.R. Bhardwaj on Thursday, a move which provided a new turn to the much-complicated political situation in the southern state.
Mr Bhardwaj’s offer of a “fresh opportunity”, which came hours after he reportedly recommended imposition of President’s Rule, was accepted by the chief minister who had rushed to New Delhi with 100-odd legislators to demonstrate that he had the requisite numbers to President Pratibha Patil and to seek the governor’s recall.
“I am going to seek a vote of confidence on the 14th at 11 am. I am confident of winning the vote of confidence on October 14,” Mr Yeddyurappa said in New Delhi after prolonged discussions with top party leaders including L.K. Advani, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.
Party sources said Mr Advani had advised them to go about the motion of confidence strictly according to the rules and procedures, with no room for the kind of mayhem and confusion which had marred the session on Monday. The legislators were sternly reminded that they should keep the party’s image in mind while taking part in the Assembly proceedings on Thursday.
The governor’s invitation came on a day when a two-member bench of the Karnataka high court put off its verdict on petitions filed by 11 dissident BJP legislators and five Independents against Speaker K.G. Bopaiah’s decision to disqualify them from membership of the Legislative Assembly. His invitation also prompted the Union Cabinet to drop its earlier move to discuss the governor’s recommendation on imposing President’s Rule at its meeting on Tuesday.
On Thursday, only 208 of the 224 MLAs would be allowed into the Assembly, leaving the BJP to muster a strength of 105 legislators to win the motion of confidence.
In Bengaluru, meanwhile, the Opposition Congress and Janata Dal (S) cried foul and protested against the governor’s decision to offer Mr Yeddyurappa another chance to prove his majority in the Assembly.
In New Delhi, the BJP’s core group met twice to discuss the Karnataka crisis. Both meetings were attended by party president Nitin Gadkari, Mr Yeddyurappa, Karnataka state unit chief K.S. Eshwarappa and state law minister Suresh Kumar. The core group met a second time in the evening after the high court adjourned the hearing on petitions filed by 16 state MLAs disqualified by the Speaker on Monday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley had raised objections to the governor’s letter questioning the “verdict” of the Assembly in the trust vote. He also questioned the governor’s authority to do so and alleged that the Karnataka Raj Bhavan was being used for “political purposes and horse-trading”.