BJP Karnataka MLAs to spend weekend at resort
Bengaluru, Jul 12: BJP in Karnataka Friday decided to move its MLAs to a resort near here amid fears of poaching bid by the ruling Congress-JDS combine after Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy announced he would seek a trust vote in the assembly despite the resignation by rebel legislators.
Every one (BJP MLAs) felt that they should be together and come together to the assembly on Monday... I have said okay, state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa told reporters in response to a question.
The MLAs were likely to stay put at a resort on the outskirts of the city, party sources said.
Resort politics is nothing new to Karnataka and during an earlier crisis faced by the ruling combine its MLAs were staying at a resort on the city outskirts.
The ruling coalition's total strength is 116 (Congress-78, JD(S)-37 and BSP-1), besides the Speaker.
With the support of the two independents, who Monday resigned from the ministry, the BJP has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where the half-way mark is 113.
If the resignations of the 16 MLAs are accepted, the coalition's tally will be reduced to 100.
To a question on Kumaraswamy's surprise announcement and how prepared was the BJP to the trust vote, Yeddyurappa said they would decide their strategy on the basis of Kumaraswamy's speech.
"As a Chief Minister, he has made a statement, how can I say no to it. It is left to him. We will decide on the basis of what the Chief Minister speaks when seeks the trust vote," the BJP veteran said.
Amid the crisis triggered by the resignation of 16 Congress and JDS MLAs, Kumaraswamy in the assembly earlier Friday said he would prove the majority of his government on the floor of the House and asked Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar to fix the time for it.
On the Supreme Court Friday restraining the Speaker from taking any decision on the resignation and disqualification of 10 MLAs till Tuesday, Yeddyurappa said it has come as a moral booster to the rebels who were 'satisfied' with the order.
He claimed even the whip issued (asking all ruling MLAs to attend the session) will not be applicable for the ten.
The MLAs in Mumbai had contacted our friends, they all are satisfied with the Supreme Court verdict, he said, adding the BJP would wait for the outcome of the next hearing on Tuesday.
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Odisha: BJD suspends 6 MLAs for cross-voting in RS polls
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Bhubaneswar (PTI): The Biju Janata Dal on Saturday suspended six of its MLAs for cross-voting during the recent election to four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha.
The suspended legislators were Chakramani Kanhar of Baliguda seat, Naba Kishor Mallick of Jayadev constituency, Souvic Biswal of Choudwar-Cuttack, Subasini Jena of Basta, Ramakanta Bhoi of Tirtol and Devi Ranjan Tripathy of Banki, an order by party chief Naveen Patnaik showed.
The suspension decision was taken at the opposition party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting presided over by Patnaik.
The six MLAs were issued a show-cause notice on March 17.
They submitted their replies on Friday evening, and those were found not satisfactory, said the BJD's chief whip in the Assembly, Pramila Mallik.
The ruling BJP won two of the four Rajya Sabha seats while the opposition BJD and a saffron party-backed Independent candidate bagged one seat each in the biennial polls held last Monday.
While the total number of BJP legislators and Independent MLAs supporting the ruling party was 82 in the 147-member House, the saffron party candidates secured 93 first preference votes, which was 11 more than its strength in the Assembly.
Of these 11 votes, eight were of BJD MLAs and three of Congress legislators, an official had said.
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