BSY FLOOR TEST TODAY AT 4 PM
Cong-JD(S) MLAs, who were rushed to Hyderabad, go back to Bengaluru for vote
Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa will face a floor test on Friday, barely 55 hours into office, after a Supreme Court order truncated the 15-day window the Governor gave him to prove majority, a hurdle he can clear only by engineering defections, or making MLAs of the JD(S)-Congress combine to resign or abstain from voting. The apex court fixed the time for the floor test at 4pm.
Experts said the BJP had two options to make the numbers: Get 16 Opposition MLAs to resign or abstain from voting, or secure the defection of seven legislators. Resignation of 16 lawmakers would bring down the number required for victory during the trust vote to 103, one less than what the BJP has.
Accusing the BJP of poaching on Opposition MLAs, the Congress on Friday released a purported audio conversation between mining baron Janardhana Reddy and a Congress MLA to back its claim.
Karnataka Congress and JD(S) MLAs who reached Hyderabad on Friday morning left for home in the night to vote in the Assembly on Saturday.
Mr Yeddyurappa has already appealed to the Congress and JD(S) MLAs to vote according to their conscience, an expression used by Indira Gandhi in 1969 when she indirectly called upon Congress lawmakers to ensure the defeat of Neelam Sanjiva Reddy in the presidential election. V.V. Giri, the unofficial nominee backed by Ms Gandhi had then become the President.
There were unconfirmed reports of Lingayat MLAs of the JD(S)-Congress alliance being in touch with the BJP, and Vokkaliga MLAs in the saffron party cosying up to the combine owing to caste sentiments.
Another legal battle was on the cards over the appointment of BJP MLA K.G. Bopaiah as the protem speaker by Governor Vajubhai Vala. Usually the senior-most member of the Assembly is appointed making Congress’ R.V. Deshpande qualified for the post.
Hyderabad has attracted national and international attention again for sequestering lawmakers to prevent poaching by rival parties after the Congress and JD(S) moved their Karnataka MLAs to the city on Friday.
The city had witnessed the sequestering of lawmakers — also colloquially known as “camp politics” — way back in 1984, when deposed chief minister N.T. Rama Rao ordered his aides to keep their flock together.
After Rama Rao successfully foiled the attempts to break his party, many parties across India followed his practice to protect their MLAs from rival influences.
The MLAs camp was once again formed in Hyderabad by N. Chandrababu Naidu in 1995 in his revolt against his party founder and incumbent Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao.
Nearly 33 years after the first sequestering, Hyderabad has become hub for Congress MLAs from the neighbouring state of Karnataka to protect their MLAs from being approached by the BJP.
The legislators were sequestered for the first time in 1984 after then finance minister Nadella Bhaskara Rao revolted against chief minister Rama Rao, when he was away in the US for a heart surgery. Bhaskara Rao became the chief minister with the support of the Congress.
Following the directions of NTR from the US, the Telugu Desam MLAs were sequestered at his Ramakrishna Studios at Golconda X Roads in the city for six days till NTR returned from the US.
For recreation, the MLAs were showed films starring NTR every day. The camp was guarded by Chandrababu Naidu, Janata Party leader S. Jaipal Reddy (now with the Congress) and BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu.
After the return of NTR, he paraded all his MLAs before then president Giani Zail Singh.
Following their return, NTR flew them to Janata Party ruled Karnataka, where they were camped at a resort in Nandi Hills , which is 60 km from Bengaluru.
The camp was hosted by by then Karnataka CM Ramakrishna Hegde for 25 days, the longest political sequestering ever in India. The camp ended after NTR was reinstated. The politics have come a full circle after 33 years with Hyder-abad hosting Karnataka’s Janata Dal (Secular) — a remnant of the Janata Party — and the Congress.
The second sequestering of legislators was organised by Mr Naidu at a hotel in Hyderabad in 1995. The operation was successful with Rama Rao getting losing the trust vote and Mr Naidu become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.