Trouble for HDK as ten lawmakers boycott Assembly

Trouble is brewing for the Congress-JD(S) coalition as 10 MLAs stayed away from the Assembly session that commenced on Wednesday, defying whips.

Of the absentees, seven were from the Congress, two areIndependents and one is from the JD(S).

What came as a surprise was the absence of JD(S) lawmaker Narayana Gowda.

Such a large number of lawmakers staying away could spell serious trouble for Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy ahead of his budget presentation. If the finance bill fails to get through, he will have to resign. This is why the BJP decided not to press a no-confidence vote.

Though the ruling party MLAs were issued a whip to be present in the state Assembly during all days of the Budget session commencing on Wednesday and vote in favour of the government, four MLAs - Ramesh Jarkiholi, Umesh Jadhav, Mahesh Kumathahalli, B Nagendra -remained absent during the Budget session.

Congress MLAs Ramalinga Reddy and Soumya Reddy too skipped the session but said they had taken prior permission from the speaker and chief whip.

Anand Singh of Congress was rushed to hospital after complaining of chest pain. He was the lawmaker who was injured in a drunken brawl with fellow MLA Ganesh at Eagleton Resort.

BJP MLAs, whose agitation forced the Governor to stop his budget speech midway, alleged that the coalition does not have adequate numbers. According to the BJP, MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi, Umesh Jhadav, Narayana Gouda, Basanagouda Daddal, B Nagendra, BC Patil, Nagesh, Shankar, JN Ganesh, Mahesh Kumthahalli and Pratap Gowda failed to turn up for the meeting. "We will continue to protest inside Assembly, this is minority govt. We will meet the Governor soon and give him a memorandum to dissolve the government," B Sriramulu, BJP MLA from Chitradurga said. The budget session of the Karnataka legislature which began at 11 am on Wednesday saw the BJP MLAs protesting in the well of the House. The protest forced Governor Vajubhai Vala to wind up his address to the joint session in 10 minutes and table his 22-page speech. The opposition members raised slogans that the ruling coalition of JDS and Congress had lost its majority and it had no right to continue in power.