Though a motion of confidence was moved by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy as soon as the Legislative Assembly met on Thursday, the House could not go any further on it with the focus shifting to the right of a legislature party to issue the whip.
Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah argued that further proceedings on the motion of confidence should be put off till the Supreme Court lends clarity on whether or not its interim order — that rebel MLAs should not be compelled to attend the session — would infringe on the rights of political parties (granted under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution) to make their members fall in line with the party discipline.
Just after the Chief Minister initiated the debate on the motion of confidence, Mr. Siddaramaiah intervened and expressed concern that the Supreme Court’s order with respect to resignations of MLAs and petitions seeking their disqualification had thrown questions on the right of political parties to issue whip to their party MLAs to attend the legislature session. Mr. Siddaramaiah argued that he had not been heard, though he was the legislature party leader who issues the whip.
‘Move to destabilise govt.’
Maintaining that there was a possibility of all the 15 rebel MLAs not attending the ongoing legislature session following the Supreme Court’s interim order, he expressed concern that such a scenario may deliver a blow to the Congress as well as the coalition government. In this context, he demanded that the motion of confidence should be taken up only after the Supreme Court clarifies the position with respect to whip and other related issues. He alleged that political defections from the governing coalition was an effort to destabilise the government. This was evident with the rebel MLAs coming in a group to the Speaker’s chamber to resign and also camping in a Mumbai hotel in a group and even travelling as a group, he said.
“I have right to issue whip to them and it is their responsibility to obey it,” he argued.
He appealed to Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar to give a ruling in this regard on whether the motion of confidence should be taken up after the Supreme Court’s clarification.
Endorsing his views, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Krishna Byre Gowda maintained that there was no scope to keep the MLAs away from the ambit of the whip as long as their resignations were yet to be accepted.
On his part, the Speaker said he would not come in the way of political parties from discharging their duties with respect to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. He said he would let the House know his views after consulting the State Advocate-General.
He said though he was made a respondent before the Supreme Court by the rebel MLAs, he had nothing to do with the issue of whip as it was the party leaders who would deal with it. This debate continued till late in the evening, leaving no scope for continuing with the motion of confidence.
