Kumaraswamy govt fate likely to be decided today

Bengaluru: The fate of the fragile H D Kumaraswamy led Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka is likely to be decided on the floor of the assembly on Monday after it defied on July 19 the two deadlines set by Governor Vajubhai Vala to prove majority after the ministry was wracked by a raft of resignations by rebel MLAs.
Amid reports that the government was still trying to prolong the discussion on the confidence motion moved by the Chief Minister on Thursday, hoping for some kind of relief from the Supreme Court, the ruling coalition was making last ditch efforts to win back unrelenting rebel lawmakers.
Kumaraswamy and the Congress had moved the Supreme Court on Friday, accusing the Governor of interfering with the Assembly proceedings when the debate on the trust vote was underway and sought clarification on its July 17 order, which they said,caused hindrance in issuing whip to the legislators.
The assembly was adjourned till Monday after the Governor’s 1.30 PM deadline and the second one to conclude the confidence motion process by Friday itself was ignored, prolonging the climax to the ceaseless power struggle that has been on for the last three weeks and which threatens to blow into a constitutional crisis.
As the first deadline neared on Friday, the ruling coalition vociferously questioned the Governor’s power to issue such a direction, with Kumaraswamy citing a Supreme Court verdict that a Governor cannot act as ombudsman of the legislature.
The Governor’s second missive was dismissed as a “love letter” by Kumaraswamy, who criticised Vala for talking about horse-trading now “when it had been happening” for the last several days. (PTI)