Bengaluru: The Congress-JD (S) coalition adopted self-protection measures on the eve of budget session of legislature scheduled to commence on Wednesday, issuing a whip to all MLAs to participate in the proceedings every day and vote in favour of the government, despite state BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa’s statement that his party has no intentions of moving a no- trust motion as part of its strategy to topple the government.
The whip would thwart plans of disgruntled Congress MLAs, now on the radar of BJP, to stay away from the Assembly, and pose a threat to longevity of the government. It states: “...you (MLAs) have to be present in the House mandatorily from Feb 6 to 15 every day, from the time the Speaker starts the proceedings to till the time he concludes, and vote in favour of the government.”
Meanwhile, in a clear indication that the party has given up plans to topple the government, Mr Yeddyurappa said his party would not table a no confidence motion against the government despite that fact that coordination was lacking in the coalition with at least 20 Congress MLAs declaring that they would not support Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and the latter's confession Amid allegations of a renewed bid by the Opposition BJP to destabilise the Kumaraswamy ministry, a whip was issued to all MLAs of ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition Tuesday to be present in the state Assembly during all days of the budget session commencing Wednesday and vote in favour of the government.
The issuance of the whip is seen as a move by the ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition to pre-empt any plans of disgruntled Congress MLAs on the radar of the BJP to stay away from the Legislative assembly and pose a threat to the stability of the government. Meanwhile, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who also holds the finance portfolio, said his government was stable and he would present a good budget and deliver good administration despite a few people trying to create hurdles.
The whip issued by the Government’s Chief Whip Ganesh Prakesh Hukkeri read: "...you (MLAs) have to be present in the House mandatorily from February 6 to 15 every day, from the time the Speaker starts the proceedings to till the time he concludes, and vote in favour of the government. It has been issued in the backdrop of reports that the Congress MLAs who had skipped the legislature party meeting last month might stay away from the assembly.
