Karnataka Political Crisis: BJP Seeks To Move No-Confidence Motion Against CM HD Kumaraswamy

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday sought to move a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s Congress-JD(S) government, which is battling the Karnataka political crisis triggered by the resignation of 16 MLAs.

"Yes, we have given a notice to Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar to move a no-confidence motion," said CT Ravi, general secretary of Karnataka BJP.

As many as 16 Members of Legislative Assembly—13 of the Congress and three from the Janata Dal (Secular)—have resigned from Karnataka Assembly while two Independent MLAs, S Shankar and H Nagesh, have withdrawn their support to the Congress-JD(S) coalition government.

The rebel MLAs are camping in Mumbai. The Speaker is yet to accept their resignations as the matter is pending before the Supreme Court which will hear the matter Tuesday. The legislators have not turned up for Karnataka Assembly proceedings that started on Friday.

On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition of five rebel Congress MLAs, along with the pending petition of 10 MLAs, seeking a direction to the Karnataka Speaker to accept their resignations.

The MLA resignations have resulted in a political crisis in Karnataka, with the Congress-JD(S) government on the brink of a collapse. On Friday, Kumaraswamy said he would seek a trust vote to end the "confusion" caused by the MLA resignations and that he was "ready for everything".

The Congress-JD(S) alliance enjoys a slim majority in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly with 116 MLAs while the main opposition BJP has 107 legislators. Two Independent MLAs and one of the Bahujan Samaj Party are also part of the assembly.