Face trust vote or resign: Yeddyurappa to Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy

BJP leader Yeddyurappa claimed that over 15 MLAs from Congress and JDS have already tendered their resignation and CM Kumaraswamy must resign now because he has lost the majority.

BENGALURU: Karnataka BJP President BS Yeddyurappa on Sunday asserted that the Congress-JDS government no longer enjoys the majority in Karnataka Assembly and demanded that Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy mist face trust vote on Monday or step down from his post without wasting any more time. 

The former Karnataka chief minister claimed that over 15 MLAs from Congress and JDS have already tendered their resignation and CM Kumaraswamy must resign now because he has lost the majority. 

"I will advise Kumaraswamy to resign immediately because more than 15 MLAs from JD(S) and Congress have resigned. Two independent ministers have also resigned and met Governor to declare that they would support Bharatiya Janata Party. So you (the CM) does not have the majority," Yeddyurappa said. "Tomorrow, I will advise Kumaraswamy at the Business Advisory Committee meeting to face confidence motion or resign," he added.

It may be recalled that Kumaraswamy had on Friday told Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar that he was ready to face a floor test during the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Assembly.

In a related development, Congress has convened a meeting of the legislature party on Monday to hold discussions over the ongoing political crisis in the state. The timing of the meeting is significant because it comes ahead of BJP`s demand for a trust vote on Monday. Talking to ANI, senior Congress leader and former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said that the Congress leaders will meet before the start of the Assembly session tomorrow.

The political imbroglio in Karnataka started last week after over a dozen MLAs from Congress and JD(S) decided to resign. Ten rebel Congress and JDS MLAs then filed a plea before the Supreme Court claiming that the Speaker was not accepting their resignation. The SC has directed the Speaker to maintain status quo on the resignation and disqualification of all MLAs till July 16. Meanwhile, the Congress has tasked Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath to resolve the ongoing crisis and ensure that the coalition government survives the ongoing turbulence and remain in power.