BJP mulling no-trust against Speaker, JDS not to back Yediyurappa govt

A day after it came to power in Karnataka, the BJP is contemplating bringing a no-confidence motion against assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar, if he does not voluntarily vacate the post, party sources said Saturday.

The message has been discreetly conveyed to Kumar to give up the post, which is conventionally held by a member from the ruling party, the sources said, ahead of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa moving the confidence motion in the assembly on Monday to prove his majority.

“We will move the no-confidence motion against the Speaker if he himself does not resign,” a senior state BJP leader told PTI requesting anonymity.

“Our first agenda is to win the confidence motion and get the finance bill passed on Monday. We will wait and see whether the Speaker steps down on his own,” he added.

The BJP leader sought to know how there could be a Speaker from the opposition party. “Once we win the confidence of the House, we will go ahead with moving no-confidence motion,” he said.

In a sudden turn of events, Yediyurappa staked claim and formed the government on Friday, barely 24 hours after the Speaker disqualified three rebel MLAs while keeping the decision pending on 14 others.

The Speaker had said that he would take a decision in a couple of days on the pleas for disqualification of the remaining MLAs. A raft of resignations by the rebel MLAs had brought down the coalition government when it lost the vote of confidence in the assembly on Tuesday and put the BJP on the saddle.

Won’t support BJP, says Deve Gowda

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda Saturday ruled out any support to the BJP government headed by Yediyurappa, saying his party would play the role of a “constructive” opposition.

Gowda made the party position clear a day after a section of JD(S) legislators asked former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to extend support to the BJP government.

Kumaraswamy rubbished the reports about JD(S) extending support to BJP. He tweeted, “I have gone through the baseless report about (JDS) developing relationship with BJP. Our party MLAs and workers should not give ear to such rumours. We will build the party by serving the people. Our pro-people struggle is continuous.”

After a meeting of JDS MLAs on Friday, party senior leader G T Devegowda had said “Some have suggested that we should sit in opposition, while some legislators are of the opinion that we should support the BJP from outside.”

“We are going to play a constructive role. As a regional party we will oppose where we have to oppose. That’s all. If you (Yediyurappa) do something good for the state, we will welcome it,” Deve Gowda told reporters here.

The JDS patriarch said, “There is no big deal in saying so (support to BJP). His (H T Devegowdas) intention was that the finance bill was passed (before July 31) because it was a budget presented by Kumaraswamy.”

Gowda explained that G T Devegowda intended to say that the JD(S) would not oppose every move of BJP just for the heck of it. “The pain of losing power within 14 months instead of 60 months (five years) is evident among Congress and the JD(S) leaders. Hence, G T Devegowda expressed his views. Whats the big deal in it? Isn’t it his right to express views?” he said.

Also read: BJP has only 105 MLAs, where is the majority, asks Siddaramaiah