SC verdict moral victory for rebel MLAs: Yeddyurappa
Bengaluru, Jul 17: Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa Wednesday welcomed the Supreme court order on the political crisis, asserting that it was a "moral victory" for the rebel MLAs, whose resignations have pushed the ruling Congress-JDS coalition to the brink of collapse.
Yeddyurappa underlined that the political parties cannot issue a whip to the 15 rebel lawmakers, who have resigned their Assembly membership, and they cannot be compelled to attend the House proceedings.
The apex court gave its verdict keeping all the facts about Karnataka in mind, he said.
Against this backdrop, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy will have to resign on Thursday when he will face the confidence vote in the Assembly, Yeddyurappa told reporters here.
"When there is no majority, he (chief minister) will automatically resign tomorrow," he said.
The BJP president also emphasised that the speaker has been directed to take a decision at the earliest and submit his order to the Supreme Court.
"I welcome the Supreme Court decision. It is a victory of the Constitution and democracy. It is a moral victory for rebel MLAs.
"It is only an interim order and in the future, the SC will decide the power of the speaker. It will set a new trend in the parliamentary democracy," Yeddyurappa said.
The Supreme Court directed on Wednesday that the 15 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs "ought not" to be compelled to take part in the proceedings of the Karnataka Assembly, which is slated to decide the confidence motion moved by the H D Kumaraswamy-led state government on July 18.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also said Karnataka Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar was free to decide on the resignations of the rebel legislators within such time-frame as deemed appropriate by him.
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Flight services between Kolkata, Dubai resume partially
Kolkata (PTI): Flight services between Kolkata and Dubai resumed partially on Thursday, after a four-day suspension due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, officials said.
A flydubai aircraft from Dubai landed at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here at 2:40 am with 130 passengers on board, marking the first arrival from the Middle East after services were halted for over 113 hours, they said.
The Boeing 737 Max aircraft was scheduled to arrive at 12:25 am, Kolkata airport officials said.
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The same aircraft departed for Dubai at 3:59 am with 55 passengers, they said.
The last flight to depart for the Middle East from Kolkata before the suspension was an Emirates aircraft to Dubai on February 28, the officials said.
International services between Kolkata and cities such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi were disrupted, after airlines temporarily suspended operations amid escalating tensions and airspace restrictions in parts of the Middle East, due to the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran.
There is no clear indication about when all the Middle East routes will fully reopen, they said.
