Bengaluru, Jul 19: The ruling JD(S)- Congress coalition lived to fight another day, with chief minister HD Kumaraswamy determined not to let go without an epic struggle.
Making the opening statement after moving a confidence motion, Kumaraswamy exuded confidence. “I will prove my majority in the House,” he said.
Opposition leader and BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa immediately stood up and demanded that the trust vote be completed in a single day. “The leader of the opposition seems to be in a hurry. But wait, there is a lot of time,” Kumaraswamy taunted Yeddyurappa. “I have to make some clarifications and unmask those responsible for destabilising our government. We have to tell the truth. The entire nation is watching the developments in Karnataka.”
Alleging that the BJP engineered the defection of 15 MLAs from the Congress and JD(S), the CM said the dissenting legislators had moved the Supreme Court with the BJP’s assistance.
“I haven’t come just because it’s is a question of whether I can run a coalition government,” he said. “Even the role of the speaker has been put in jeopardy by some legislators. A situation has been created for people to lose trust in us. They want a trust vote without any discussion.”
“While [the rebel MLAs’] resignations contained one line stating that their decision was genuine and voluntary, in the Supreme Court they said the state is steeped in corruption. They even quoted the JSW land deal and IMA scam. I have to tell the truth,” the CM said.
“I will not threaten anybody,” he said. “I’m in no hurry. Let’s discuss what happened between 2008 and 2013 [when the BJP was in power]. We haven’t treated MLAs like cattle.”
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