Bengaluru: The opposition JD(S) led by former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is all set to move a no-confidence motion against the Siddaramaiah government on the first day of the legislature session in Bengaluru on Monday. This will be the first no-confidence motion against the two-year old Congress government which assumed power in 2013.
The JD(S) has 40 MLAs in the state assembly, nowhere near the half-way mark of 112 and all it can do is highlight issues like farmer suicides and the Lokayukta scam which have left the state government red-faced in recent weeks.
It remains to be seen if the main opposition party, BJP will back the no-confidence motion. A final decision will be taken by the saffron party on Monday at its legislature party meeting. On Sunday, when asked about the BJP not sure of supporting the no-confidence motion, Mr Kumaraswamy said that he was not worried about this.
“We have the numbers to move the motion and our legislators have signed on it. The motion may get defeated, but we will expose the government on all fronts,'' he added.
Reacting sharply to the statement made by Mr Siddaramaiah that an Ahinda CM was being targeted by the BJP and JD(S) which had the backing of dominant communities, Mr Kumaraswamy said that the CM was taking shelter under AHINDA to cover up his mistakes and to save his position as CM.
“I know all the issues he raked up earlier as opposition leader in the assembly and the documents he had produced. But, he has never come to the rescue of any of these communities. When we start exposing him, he cries and takes shelter behind the AHINDA platform,'' Mr Kumaraswamy hit back.
The Lingayats, the majority community in Karnataka form a major chunk of the BJP’s support base, particulary in north Karnataka.
For the JD (S), the Vokkaligas who are second only to the Lingayats in numbers, have always been a vote bank they can rely on especially in the old Mysuru region which has remained the party’s bastion.
Mr Siddaramaiah who belongs to the baxkward class Kuruba community, had earlier formed a loose coalition of the backward classes, Dalits and minorities in a move to counter the dominance of the upper classes.
He has always claimed the support of AHINDA as this coalition was called but in the process, has invited the ire of prominent leaders of other communities in the ruling Congress and in other parties too.
