Confident that a trust vote would result in the collapse of the coalition government, Leader of the Opposition B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday charged that both the Congress and JD(S) leaders are conspiring to adjourn the Assembly and thereby delay the trust vote deliberately.
Addressing media persons soon after the House was adjourned for Friday, Yeddyurappa said, “What has happened today on the floor of the House is nothing but an insult to the democracy and parliamentary system. We cannot tolerate such developments.” Hitting out strongly against the chief minister, Yeddyurappa said that Kumaraswamy should have resigned, knowing that he does not enjoy the majority in the House.
“When the chief minister moved the confidence motion this morning, the ruling coalition had only 98 MLAs, while the BJP had 105 legislators present on the floor of the House. What more proof one needs to say that this is a minority government,” Yeddyurappa questioned.
The BJP leaders, following direction from the Governor, had appealed to the Speaker to conclude vote of confidence even if the proceedings are extended till late into the night.
“But the coalition MLAs, in a bid to provoke us (BJP MLAs) and adjourn the House, held placards and shouted slogans against us. Protesting against their highhandedness, we will stage an overnight dharna on the floor of the House,” Yeddyurappa said.
Accusing the chief minister of taking major policy decisions contrary to the Governor’s direction, Yeddyurappa said, “We will see how long the government manages to survive by resorting to such tactics.” Delaying tactic BJP leader S Suresh Kumar said that bringing in extraneous issues into the debate on the vote of confidence was a delaying tactic to buy more time.
“Voting should have been taken up at the earliest. Even the Governor has sent a message saying that he was desirous of completing voting by the end of the day. Without giving any respect to the Governor’s message and the Supreme Court, they are bringing in extraneous issues into the debate and are buying time,” he said.
The tactic, however, was foreseen by some BJP leaders. BJP general secretary C T Ravi said soon after the House adjourned for lunch that a trust vote was unlikely during the day.