Two Independent MLAs seek seats on opposition side in Karnataka Assembly
Bengaluru: Two Independent MLAs, who recently withdrew support to the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka and sided with the BJP, have written to the Assembly speaker requesting him to allot them seats on the opposition side in the House.
In separate letters to the speaker, both H Nagesh (Mulabagilu MLA) and R Shankar (Ranebennur MLA) stated that they had withdrawn support to the ruling coalition and requested him to make seating arrangements for them on the opposition side in the Assembly.
The monsoon session of the Karnataka Assembly began on Friday and is scheduled to end on July 26. Both the Independent legislators were absent on the first day of the session.
According to sources, they are said to be camped at a hotel in Mumbai.
Nagesh, who was the state small scale industries minister, and Shankar, the municipal administration minister, had met Governor Vajubhai Vala at the Raj Bhavan, submitted their letters of resignation and conveyed their decision to withdraw support to the government to him.
With 16 MLAs -- 13 of the Congress and three of the Janata Dal (Secular) -- resigning from the Assembly, the coalition government is facing a serious crisis in the southern state.
On June 14, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had expanded his cabinet by inducting Nagesh and Shankar, apparently to provide stability to his 13-month-old wobbly government.
It was seen as a move to ensure that the two Independent legislators did not jump the ship once again in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Shankar was inducted from the Congress's share and Nagesh from the JD(S) quota in the ministry.
Both had, in December last year, sided with the BJP on not being inducted into the ministry during a cabinet rejig and written to the governor informing him about their withdrawal of support to the government.
As the BJP then failed in its alleged attempts to topple the coalition and form the government, the two lawmakers subsequently retraced their steps to be back in the ruling alliance.
With Shankar and Nagesh withdrawing support to the government, the ruling coalition's current strength in the Assembly is 116 (Congress 78, JD(S) 37 and BSP one), besides the speaker.
With the support of the two Independent legislators, the BJP now has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where the halfway mark is 113.
If the resignations of the 16 Congress-JD(S) MLAs are accepted, the ruling coalition's tally will be reduced to 100. In case of a trust vote in the Assembly, the speaker has a vote too.
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NIA registers case to probe recovery of 79 crude bombs in poll-bound West Bengal
New Delhi (PTI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday registered a case to probe recovery of 79 crude bombs in poll-bound West Bengal, officials said.
The move came following a directive by the Union Home Ministry in this regard, they said.
In pursuance to the home ministry's order, the anti-terror agency on Sunday registered a case, which was originally filed at Uttar Kashi police station, Bhangar division, Kolkata on Saturday, and took up the investigation, an NIA spokesperson said in a late night statement.
"The case pertains to recovery of 79 crude bombs and other incriminating materials by Kolkata police, which were being stored at a spot, thereby endangering human life and property," the spokesperson said.
Earlier in the day, the Election Commission had directed the West Bengal Police to launch a special drive to arrest those involved in illegal manufacturing of crude bombs in the poll-bound state, an official said.
It asserted that all cases related to the making of any such explosive would be probed by the National Investigation Agency, the official said.
The directive came after the police recovered a large number of crude bombs from the house of a person, allegedly a TMC worker, at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district, days ahead of the second and final phase of the assembly polls in the state.
The explosives were recovered during a search at the residence of Rafikul Islam following specific inputs, the official said.
The poll panel also issued a warning to senior police officers across the state over any lapse in maintaining law and order before the April 29 polling.
The first phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal was held on April 23, while the second phase will take place on April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
A record 93.19 per cent turnout has been recorded in the first round of polling. Bhangar will vote in the second phase.
