Karnataka: 5 more rebel Congress MLAs move SC as Speaker holds on resignation

Bengaluru, July 13: As chief minister Kumaraswamy prepares for floor test to prove majority, five more Karnataka Congress MLAs moved the Supreme Court on Saturday against Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar for delaying the acceptance of their resignations.

Karnataka MLAs, Anand Singh, Dr K Sudhakar, N Nagaraju, Munirathna and Roshan Baig filed a joint petition in the top court saying that despite submitting their resignations at different dates to the Karnataka Assembly speaker, he was not accepting the same.

The development comes a day after the apex court directed Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar not to take any decision on the disqualification or resignation of 10 rebel Congress-JD(S) coalition MLAs until July 16.

Kumaraswamy, to everyone's surprise, on Thursday, told Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar on the first day of the monsoon session that he was ready to face a no-confidence motion to prove he has the majority.

"I leave it to you to decide if I should seek trust-vote or face no-confidence motion on the floor of this House when you fix the date and time," the chief minister told Kumar in Kannada.

Of the 16 rebels, 13 belong to the Congress and 3 Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S). Two more Independents, who resigned as ministers on July 8, withdrew support to the ruling allies and pledged to back the BJP when it forms the government again in the southern state.