Karnataka bypoll deferred till SC decision on disqualified MLAs

The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday (September 26) postponed the bypolls to 15 Assembly seats in Karnataka, which was scheduled for October 21, until the Suprme Court takes a call on the petitions by the MLAs disqualified by the former Speaker.

Last week, the EC had announced that the bypolls will be held on October 21 along with the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana. The results were due by October 24.

This provides a relief to the disqualified MLAs who were staring at an uncertain future since their disqualification barred them from contesting elections. They had even demanded BJP tickets for their relatives from their respective constituencies.

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The Karnataka MLAs were disqualified by former Speaker KR Ramesh after they resigned and led to the fall of the 14-month-old coalition government. Thereafter, the MLAs had challenged their disqualification in the top the court, but the petitions were kept pending for nearly two months.

Following the fall the HD Kumaraswamy government, the BJP staked claim in the Assembly and won the confidence vote, and former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa reclaimed his position.

For the BJP to continue in power, it needs to win at least eight of the 15 seats in the bypolls. It currently has the support of 105 MLAs in the Assembly, whose present strength is 208.

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