Chapter 5: The Fall, Part 2
Photo credit: Arijit Sen
The trust vote of the Karnataka coalition government began on July 18, 2019. The numbers were telling. Just a day before the confidence motion was taken up, the Supreme Court said in an interim order that the 17 rebel MLAs of the Congress and JD(S) could not be compelled to attend the House.
From July 18 to 23, MLAs of the coalition government began a war of attrition trying to wear down the BJP’s resolve. Legislator after legislator stood up to criticise the BJP, only to be met with silence. BJP MLAs had been instructed to not say anything and give the coalition reason to delay proceedings further.
After Governor Vajubhai Vala set three deadlines, which were ignored by the House, the final count began late on July 23. The coalition had the confidence of 99 MLAs, excluding the Speaker, and the BJP had the support of 105 MLAs. The coalition fell because 17 rebels, one Independent MLA, a BSP legislator and another Congress MLA stayed away from the House that day.
Two days after the government fell, Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar disqualified 17 rebels, and ordered that were not eligible to return to the House for the remainder of the term of the 15th Assembly, which was set to expire in 2023.
This was a novel interpretation of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, or the anti-defection law, because it did allow disqualified members to seek reelection.
The Supreme Court upheld the disqualifications but ruled that the rebels could contest the byelections to the seats they had vacated. So, in December 2019, 13 rebels contested in the 15 seats that went to the polls. The people of Karnataka voted in 11 of them, all of whom were made ministers in the BJP government. Others have been rehabilitated after they became members of Karnataka’s Upper House.
Featured music:
All music used in this podcast is royalty free and sourced from the www.freemusicarchive.org. Detailed information on the tracks below:
Song: Two Pianos / Artist: Tagirijus
Song: Martina and the air plan / Artist: Marco Castelli
Song: Delirium / Artist: Ketsa
Song: Rewind Hard Trap / Artist: Makaih Beats
Song: Rusty Nails / Artist: Movie Theater