New Delhi, Bengaluru: The week-long political drama in the Karnataka Assembly snowballed into a Constitutional crisis on Friday as the JD(S)-Congress coalition government that is facing the threat of collapse not only flagrantly ignored the 1.30 pm deadline set by Governor Vajubhai Vala for proving its majority, but did the same again when it was slapped with a second deadline of 6.30 pm.
The Speaker, in a further red flag to the BJP bull, adjourned the proceedings at around 8.30 pm and called for the session to resume only on Monday morning.
A fresh legal battle loomed, as the crisis set off by the shock resignation of 15 MLAs of the ruling coalition a fortnight ago deepened, with Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Karnataka’s Congress unit moving the Supreme Court, contending that Governor Vala cannot dictate to the Assembly the manner in which the debate on the confidence motion has to be taken up.
The Governor is widely expected to send a report on the developments to the Union home ministry, which will assess the options before it. However, legal experts have said that the state government cannot be dismissed unless a trust vote is held in view of the judgment in the S.R. Bommai case, when it was ruled that a government’s majority can only be proved on the floor of the House.
The CM questioned the deadlines set by the Governor one after another to complete the trust vote, and also sought clarification on the apex court’s July 17 order which said that the 15 rebel MLAs cannot be compelled to attend the proceedings of the House.
