New Delhi:
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday welcomed Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar's decision to disqualify three of its rebel MLAs involved in anti-party activities. In a major development to the ongoing political turbulence in Karnataka, Independent MLA R Shankar, Congress MLAs Ramesh Jharkiholi and Mahesh Kumathalli have been disqualified as member of the state legislative Assembly till the current term ends in 2023.
Hailing the move, Siddaramaiah said, "I welcome the decision of the Honourable Speaker to disqualify the three MLAs of our party involved in anti-party activities. Such stringent resolutions are essential to protect the democracy. This historic decision will be a warning for those who violate the mandate for their self-achievement".
ಪಕà³à²· ವಿರೋಧಿ ಚಟà³à²µà²Ÿà²¿à²•à³†à²¯à²²à³à²²à²¿ à²à²¾à²—ಿಯಾದ ನಮà³à²® ಪಕà³à²·à²¦ ಮೂವರೠಶಾಸಕರನà³à²¨à³ ಅನರà³à²¹à²—ೊಳಿಸಿದ ಮಾನà³à²¯ ಸà²à²¾à²§à³à²¯à²•à³à²·à²° ನಿರà³à²£à²¯à²µà²¨à³à²¨à³ ಸà³à²µà²¾à²—ತಿಸà³à²¤à³à²¤à³‡à²¨à³†. ಪà³à²°à²œà²¾à²ªà³à²°à²à³à²¤à³à²µà²¦ ರಕà³à²·à²£à³†à²—ಾಗಿ ಇಂಥ ಕಠಿಣ ನಿರà³à²£à²¯à²—ಳೠಅತà³à²¯à²—ತà³à²¯. ಸà³à²µà²¾à²°à³à²¥ ಸಾಧನೆಗಾಗಿ ಜನಾದೇಶವನà³à²¨à³ ಉಲà³à²²à²‚ಘಿಸà³à²µà²µà²°à²¿à²—ೆ ಈ à²à²¤à²¿à²¹à²¾à²¸à²¿à²• ನಿರà³à²£à²¯ ಎಚà³à²šà²°à²¿à²•à³†à²¯ ಗಂಟೆಯಾಗಲಿದೆ.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 25, 2019
READ | Karnataka Crisis: Speaker KR Ramesh disqualifies one Independent, two Congress MLAs
KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao also praised the Speaker’s ruling and termed it a "victory of democracy".
R Shankar is one of the two Independent MLAs who withdrew support to the Kumaraswamy government and switched sides ahead of trust vote held in Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday. Jarkiholi and Kumathalli too submitted their resignations in early July, pushing the 14-month old wobbly Congress-JDS government to the brink of collapse.
Meanwhile, the decision to disqualify the Karnataka rebels will certainly highten the suspense over government formation exercise in the state two days after the collapse of the Congress-JDS ministry.
READ | Hours before losing trust vote in Karnataka, Kumaraswamy signed THIS last order
The 14-month-old Congress-JDS coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy collapsed on Tuesday after losing the vote of confidence in the assembly in a climax to the three-week long intense power struggle triggered by the raft of resignations by 15 rebel MLAs.
However, the political turmoil in the southern state may prolong further with Speaker Kumar yet to decide on both resignations and disqualification pleas of 14 other MLAs pending before him.
