The effort by the ruling Congress to dislodge Legislative Council Chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy through a no-confidence motion proved a disaster on Thursday with the combined Opposition of the BJP and the JD(S) voting against it. Congress insiders said this was only to be expected as it was a “gamble” played without adequate preparation and with “near total absence of consultation within the party”.
A senior leader said the issue of no-confidence motion was not deliberated upon in the Congress Legislature Party meeting held last week. “A poor strategy has backfired,” he told The Hindu . On the other hand, the defeat of the motion is also a warning to the Congress that the JD(S) “is ready to switch sides according to its political convenience and is not a reliable partner”, said the leader.
Another leader said that without proper mathematical calculations, two MLCs — V.S. Ugrappa and H.M. Revanna — took it up as a “prestige issue” and convinced Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about moving the motion. The Congress fell short of two votes to garner the required 38 votes to remove the Chairman. All the 12 members of the JD(S) voted against the motion to pave the way for Mr. Shankaramurthy to continue as the Chairman. The Congress was also unable to enlist the support of two Independents, who too opposed the motion.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara met JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda on the issue, but none of the Congress senior leaders approached JD(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy. “The Congress did not consult us before moving the motion,” said Mr. Kumaraswamy.
Interestingly, before commencement of voting, the Congress had even agreed to the JD(S) demand of making senior MLC Basavaraj Horatti the Chairman. However, the proposal was rejected by Mr. Kumaraswamy stating that the decision had come “too late” from the Congress.
Disappointed with the defeat of the motion, senior Ministers such as D.K. Shivakumar, R. Roshan Baig, Tanveer Sait and Basavaraj Rayaraddi reportedly lashed out at Mr. Ugrappa and Mr. Revanna for putting the ruling party in an awkward position with the Assembly elections just 10 months away.
Party sources said the government had faced a similar embarrassment when it had moved a motion for removal of Upalokayukta Subhash B. Adi.
The outcome of the no-confidence motion is being viewed as a setback for the bonhomie between the Congress and the JD(S) that had set in after the byelections to the Assembly from Nanjangud and Gundlupet constituencies. The JD(S) decision to not field candidates was regarded as one of the factors for the Congress victory in both the constituencies by big margins. The JD(S) has also aligned with the Congress to keep the BJP away from power in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike council. However, the JD(S) decision to not side with the Congress in the Legislative Council proves that the party’s support cannot be relied upon. This is significant ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections.
