Bengaluru: "My role is like that of an umpire (in a cricket match). If it is a no ball...I will say no ball. It is very difficult to say what will happen on Thursday". This is how Legislative Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar reacted to the interim verdict of the Supreme Court on a writ petition filed by 15 rebel Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) legislators questioning the delay in accepting their resignations.
The Speaker told reporters here that his responsibility has increased as the apex court has not fixed any time limit for him to act on the resignations and the disqualification of the lawmakers.This did not mean that he would act as per his will and delay his decision. Any decision he takes would be as per the Constitution and will ensure that he upholds the sanctity of the country's highest court.
"I am not responsible if my decision benefits someone or means a loss to someone else. My action will be within the rules laid down by the Constitution. Since the apex court has clearly said that the rebel MLAs cannot be forced to attend the monsoon session of the Legislature, it is upto the respective political parties to make them attend the session. From my side, we will furnish all details regarding the agenda to all MLAs. They will be given sitting fees and allowance if they attend, or else they will be marked absentees. As announced earlier, the Assembly proceeding will begin at 11 am and the debate on the trust vote too will begin. It is not known how much time each MLA will take as it depends on the proceedings".Mr Ramesh Kumar also recalled that a trust vote sought by the Moraji Desai government ended in just half an hour.
Meanwhile, the office of the Speaker was flooded with petitions appealing to him not to accept the resignations of the rebel MLAs. Voters of KR Puram, Yesvanthpur and Raja Rajeshwari Nagar-represented by Mr Byrati Basavaraj, Mr S.T. Somashekar and Mr N. Muniratna jointly submitted a memorandum seeking the Speaker's help to find their 'missing' MLAs'. They claimed that their lawmakers have gone missing since July 6 and they were worried over their safety.
Drama, Drama, Drama
9:30 am: CM visits Sringeri branch temple
10:30 am: SC pronounces its interim verdict on resignation and disqualification of rebel MLAs.
11 am: CM H.D. Kumaraswamy meets his father and H.D. Deve Gowda to discuss the impact of SC verdict
11: 30 am: B.S. Yeddyurappa welcomes the verdict.
11:40 am: D.K. Shivakumar makes fresh appeal to rebel MLAs to come back to Bengaluru
11:50 am: Rebel MLAs welcome the verdict but refuse to participate in Assembly session
12 noon: Speaker Ramesh Kumar says he will go by the SC verdict
1 pm: CM, K.J. George, CLP Leader Siddaramaiah, KPCC President Dinesh Gundurao and AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal hold a closed door meeting
1:50 pm: Congress files a petition with the Speaker against Ranebennur Independent MLA R Shankar seeking his disqualification
1:55 pm: Ramalinga Reddy says he will participate in the session
2 pm: Voters of KR Puram, RR Nagar and Yesvantpur submit petition to the Speaker office to find their ‘missing’ legislators
2:30 pm: CM holds another round of meetings with Congress leaders
2:40 pm: Vijayanagar Cong MLA Anand Singh says he will not withdraw his resignation and will not attend the session on Thursday
2:50 pm; Speaker Ramesh Kumar arrives in Vidhana Soudha
3 pm: Congress leaders led by Siddaramaiah meets the Speaker to discuss SC verdict
3:15 pm: BSY and BJP National General Secretary Muralidhar Rao hold a meeting with BJP lawmakers
3:45 pm: Krishna Byre Gowda meets the Speaker to seek clarification on the verdict
4 pm: BJP leaders, J.C. Madhuswamy, Basavaraj Bommai and K G Bopaiah meet the Speaker and request him not to postpone trust vote.
5 Pm: Deve Gowda meets Advocate General Uday Holla to discuss the impact of verdict
5:30 pm: Siddaramaiah holds one more round of meetings with his party MLAs
