Congress, JDS vow to take strict action against rebel MLAs

BENGALURU: The Congress and Janata Dal Secular, who government in Karnataka fell on Tuesday after failing to win the trust vote in Assembly, have promised to take strong action against their rebels MLAs who played an important in toppling the 14-month-old coalition government.

Congress leader Siddaramaiah and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy have made it clear that all rebels - 13 from the Congress and 3 from JDS - will be disqualified. It is to be noted that the resignation of these MLAs had pushed Chief Minister Kumaraswamy's government in minority.

The trust vote held on Tuesday led to the collapse of the government as the Congress-JDS coalition got the support of only 99 MLAs. On the other hand, opposition BJP touched the majority mark with 105 votes. It is expected that the saffron party will form the next government in the state under the leadership of BS Yeddyurappa.

In the 225-member Karnataka assembly, 20 MLAs were absent during Tuesday's floor test. During the trust vote debate, Kumaraswamy asserted that the "betrayal will not be entertained" and rebel MLAs will have to pay the price for their action.

Siddaramaiah tweeted, "I would like to reaffirm that those who have fallen for Operation Kamala will never be inducted back to our party". Talking to ANI, the senior Congress leader said that 15-16 MLAs of the party violated the why by remaining absent from the Assembly during trust vote, which is a clear violation of Schedule 10 (of the Constitution) and they should face disqualification.

The rebel MLAs, who went to a hotel in Mumbai after submitting their resignations to Assembly Speaker, refused to budge under any kind of pressure from Congress and JDS leaders and remained adamant on their stand to not attend the assembly under any circumstances. Despite a whip by Congress, no rebel MLA of the party attended the trust vote on Tuesday.

It is to be noted that Kumaraswamy and the Congress had also filed pleas before the Supreme Court, accusing Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala of interfering with the proceedings of Assembly during the debate on trust vote. Both Congress and JDS had sought clarification from the apex court on its July 17 order in which the SC had said that the rebel MLAs cannot be forced to attend the Assembly.