Karnataka rebel MLAs says no question of going to assembly after SC verdict

Bengaluru, July 17: Welcoming the Supreme Court's verdict on Wednesday which said the 15 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs should not be compelled to take part in the trust vote which is scheduled to be held in Karnataka Assembly tomorrow, the rebel MLAs who are in Mumbai said there is no question of going back and no question of attending the floor test.

Speaking to ANI, Karnataka rebel MLAs said,"We honour the Supreme Court's verdict. We all are together. We stand by our decision. There is no question of going to the Assembly."

In Karnataka, resignations by the MLAs have plunged the Congress-JD(S) coalition government into crisis earlier this month. Thirteen Congress and three JD(S) MLAs have resigned since July 6, technically reducing the numbers of the coalition from 117 to 101 compared to the BJP's 105 in the 224-member House where the halfway mark is 113.

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 Kuma was free to decide on the resignations of the rebel legislators within such time-frame as deemed appropriate by him.