Ahead of crucial trust vote, all odds against Karnataka government

Bengaluru, July 18: Ahead of the crucial trust vote to be held today, the odds seem to be heavily stacked against the H D Kumaraswamy led, JD(S)-Congress government.

In addition to the rebellion, the Supreme Court ruled that those MLAs who had resigned could not be forced to come to the legislative assembly where the trust vote would be held at 11 am today.

In all 16 rebels had resigned, but in a late night u-turn, Ramalinga Reddy said he would stay with the Congress and vote in favour of the government. Even if Reddy were to side with the Congress, the strength of the coalition would be just 101. The BJP on the other hand 105 on its own. In addition to this it has the support of two independent MLAs, taking its strength to 107 in a House now that needs 105.

As the events progress, it would be interesting to see if more MLAs would stay away from the House. There is uncertainty about N Mahesh, the BSP MLA, who had a pre-poll alliance with the JD(S). Making matters worse for the Congress was MLA Shrimant Patil.

He was said to have gone missing from the resort where the Congress legislators are holed up.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the Speaker a free hand to decide on the resignations of the 16 MLAs. 13 from the Congress and 3 from the JD(S) resigned. The court however did not fix a time frame for the Speaker, but said that whenever he takes a decision, the same would be placed before the court. The SC also said that the MLAs cannot be forced to take part in Thursday's proceedings.