It is about the year 2018. The BJP emerged as the single largest party in the Karnataka assembly elections, winning 104 seats, but needed 9 more MLAs to form the government. Whereas Congress won 78 and JDS won 37 seats. When Congress saw that the BJP did not have the required 113 votes to form the government, it started staking claims to form the government with the JDS.
Despite this, the governor invited the single largest party BJP to form the government. Yeddyurappa also took oath as the Chief Minister, but could not prove his majority and remained CM for only two and a half days. After this Congress and JDS together formed the government. Yeddyurappa was being eaten up by this. After this Yeddyurappa made such a move that within 14 months the Congress-JDS government fell and Yeddyurappa again became the CM.
Background: BJP won the maximum number of seats, but did not get the majority.
It is a matter of 15 May 2018. Karnataka assembly results started coming in at 8 am. By afternoon, BJP was seen winning more than 100 seats out of total 222 seats in Karnataka.
The departure of the Siddarammaiah government of the Congress was decided. Whereas Yeddyurappa emerged as the biggest leader of Karnataka. There are a total of 224 assembly seats in Karnataka, but elections could not be held on two due to some reasons.
By evening, when the results of all the seats came, BJP became the single largest party by winning 104 seats, but 8 seats remained away from the majority. While Congress got 78, JDS got 37 seats and others got 3 seats.
Even though Yediyurappa emerged as the single largest leader, JDS’s Kumaraswamy became the kingmaker by winning only 37 seats. From here the real game of Karnataka politics started. Along with BJP, Congress, and JDS also staked claim to form the government.
Action: Instead of an alliance, the governor invited the largest party to form the government.
Now all eyes were on the governor. Remembering the lesson of Goa, the Congress this time sent two of its senior leaders Ashok Gehlot and Ghulam Nabi Azad to Karnataka.
Amidst all this, BJP MLA Suresh Kumar tweets at 7:56 pm on May 16. He writes in the tweet, ‘The governor has invited the BJP to form the government.’
With this, the political drama of Karnataka started. The news comes at 8 pm that Yeddyurappa will take oath on the morning of 17th May itself. Also, the governor has given him 15 days to prove his majority.
Karnataka BJP tweets at 8:31 am – The moment has arrived for which crores of Kannadigas were waiting. Yediyurappa will take oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka tomorrow at 9:30 am at the Raj Bhavan. The movement to make Karnataka our gold has started.
Here also comes a twist. Karnataka BJP deletes its tweet. At 9 pm, the Governor’s formal letter to Yeddyurappa to form the government appears in the media. After this, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala holds a press conference.
He says- ‘It is clearly visible in the Governor’s letter which is being circulated in the media that the Governor also feels that BJP’s Yeddyurappa does not have a majority.’
Political drama: Yeddyurappa became CM for two and a half days after an overnight hearing in the Supreme Court
Congress does not stop at this. This time Congress had made full preparations to join hands with the BJP. The drama had started.
On May 16 at 10:35 pm, the Congress reaches the Supreme Court against the Governor’s decision and demands an emergency hearing. Congress and JDS filed a petition in the Supreme Court at 11:40.
After the petition was accepted at 12:30 pm, the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court reached the residence of Chief Justice Deepak Mishra. At 12:45, the CJI formed a bench of three judges Justice SA Bobde, Justice AK Sikri, and Justice Ashok Bhushan.
Lawyers continue to reach the Supreme Court till 1:35 pm. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court started the hearing at 2 pm. After a hearing that lasted for more than three hours, at 5:25 am, the Supreme Court refused to stay the Governor’s decision. BJP considered it as its victory.
Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka at 9 am on 17 May. Although still 8 MLAs could not be mobilized for the majority, due to 15 days time, BJP was feeling that mobilizing them would not be a big challenge.
On the other hand, Congress and JDS also kept their MLAs united. That is, there was no visible scope of breaking. The Congress, which took a blow from the Supreme Court, challenged the Governor’s decision to give 15 days for the majority.
On May 18, the Supreme Court ordered Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on May 19 at 4 pm instead of 15 days. After the decision of the Supreme Court, there was pressure on the BJP and the Congress was playing on the front foot.
On May 18 itself, Congress and JDS reached the Supreme Court against the appointment of KG Bopaiah as a Pro-tem Speaker by the Governor. The Supreme Court said that we will hear the matter on May 19 in the morning.
Meanwhile, on May 19, early in the morning, news spread that the BJP has gathered the support of the MLAs to get the majority. At the same time, the Supreme Court said on the petition of the Congress that only Bopaiah would be the pro-tem speaker. However, the court directed for a live telecast of the vote division on the demand of Congress.
Now all eyes were on Yeddyurappa. Yeddyurappa along with his MLAs reached the assembly at 4 pm. However, by now the picture was very clear that the BJP does not have a majority.
Live telecast was happening from the assembly. Chief Minister Yeddyurappa stood up to address the assembly and the people of Karnataka. During this Yeddyurappa gives an emotional speech and in the end says, ‘I resign from the post of Chief Minister. I thank the people of Karnataka.’ In this way, Yeddyurappa could become the CM for only two and a half days.
Rebel: Rebellion started with the formation of the Congress-JDS government
Congress and JDS announced to forget political enmity and form the government. After talks, it was decided that JDS’s HD Kumaraswamy, who won 37 seats, would be the chief minister for five years.
HD Kumaraswamy of JDS took oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on 23 May. However, the drama was not over yet. The first blow to the Congress-JDS alliance came in July 2018 i.e. within a month.
During this, angry MLAs talked about going with BJP if they were not included in the new cabinet. However, Kumaraswamy resolved the issue by expanding the cabinet.
Meanwhile, two Congress MLAs started speaking publicly against the coalition government. To keep the government afloat, the Congress leadership decided to act against its own MLAs and sent notices to them.
If seen, cracks had already started appearing in the Congress and JDS alliance. In August 2018, it is reported that the BJP has talked to 10 Congress MLAs to join the party. Out of these 5 are angry with Congress and are ready to join BJP.
In September 2018, news came that BJP is running Operation Lotus-3.0. Meanwhile, the Congress-JDS alliance accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy to topple the Kumaraswamy government through horse trading.
Horse trading: 14 MLAs resign and reach the five-star hotel in Mumbai
Karnataka’s political drama reached its peak in February 2019 when seven Congress MLAs and one JDS MLA skipped the assembly session. The Congress accused the BJP of kidnapping these MLAs.
Also, the opposition BJP was accused of paying bribes of Rs 30 to 40 crore to the MLAs in their favor. The MLA returned after a few days. It was told that these MLAs were staying in a hotel in Mumbai.
In the Lok Sabha elections in May 2019, the Congress-JDS alliance was badly defeated in Karnataka. BJP wins 25 out of the total of 28 seats in Karnataka. On the other hand, Congress and JDS have to be satisfied with just one seat each. One seat was won by an independent.
Big developments unfold on 1 July. Karnataka’s Vijayanagar Congress MLA Anand Singh and Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi resign. Ramesh was already suspended by the Congress for anti-party activities. Within a week, 12 more MLAs of Congress and JDS resigned.
These MLAs also met Governor Vajubhai Vala and informed him about their resignations. After this, all these MLAs reached the Five Star Hotel in Mumbai by chartered plane. It is said that the chartered plane by which this MLA went to Mumbai belonged to a BJP Rajya Sabha MP.
During this, Congress and JDS try their best to persuade their rebel MLAs. Now it was a do-or-die situation for the HD Kumaraswamy-led Congress and JDS government.
The Kumaraswamy government tries the last resort and lures the rebels to become ministers. Also, all 21 Congress MLAs resign on 8 July.
Even after this, when the rebel MLAs did not agree, Congress asked the speaker to take action against all of them under the anti-defection law. Also demanded the disqualification of these MLAs.
On 9 July, the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, KR Ramesh Kumar, did not accept the resignation. Ramesh Kumar says eight resignations are not in order. He said that if the MLA wants to resign, then give it in proper order.
Meanwhile, 2 more MLAs reached Mumbai. On July 10, Mumbai witnessed high-level drama when Congress’s troubleshooter DK Shivkumar reached Mumbai to meet rebel MLAs.
After this, the rebel MLAs write a letter to the Mumbai Police demanding protection and asking them to stop meeting DK Shivakumar. After this the Mumbai Police did not allow DK Shivakumar to enter the hotel.
Mumbai Police preventing Congress leader DK Shivakumar from entering a five-star hotel in Mumbai on 10 July 2019. Rebel leaders of Congress and JDS were staying in this hotel.
Deadline: Even after 4 days of drama in the assembly, Kumaraswamy could not prove the majority
The MLAs of Congress-JDS who had resigned now reach the Supreme Court against the Speaker. On 11 July, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the matter on 17 July.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also said that until the matter is heard, the speaker should not take disqualification action against the MLAs.
Meanwhile, Kumaraswamy surprisingly announced that he would seek a vote of confidence in the House. After this, along with BJP, Congress, and JDS shifted their respective MLAs to the resort.
On 15 July, the Speaker adjourned the House till 18 July, as the Supreme Court ordered status quo on the resignation and disqualification petitions of the rebel MLAs.
On July 17, the Supreme Court said during the hearing that rebel MLAs cannot be forced to attend the floor test.
The court also allowed the Speaker to take a decision on the resignation of these rebel MLAs within any time limit. The session of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly began on 18 July.
In the assembly, Kumaraswamy said he was confident of a majority. Also, after giving a long speech, he says, ‘I will prove majority in the house.’
The Governor sent a message to the Speaker to complete the trust vote by the end of the day, but the floor test did not take place. After this, the Governor wrote a letter to the Chief Minister directing him to prove his majority by 1:30 pm on July 19.
After this, the house was adjourned without a floor test and BJP MLAs slept in the assembly in protest. Chief Minister Kumaraswamy raises questions on the deadline set by the Governor for the trust vote on July 19. After this, the Governor writes another letter asking the Chief Minister to prove his majority by the end of the day.
The assembly adjourns till Monday amid the uproar. The Chief Minister and the Congress leader assure the house that there will be a vote on the motion of confidence on July 22.
On 22 July, two independent MLAs, who had withdrawn support to the government, reached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to hold a floor test by the end of the day. Meanwhile, the Congress made a last-ditch effort to pacify the rebel MLAs under the leadership of DK Shivakumar.
It was claimed that JDS is ready to make Congress the Chief Minister. After this, the rebel MLAs issued a video message saying that they will not take back their resignations as the coalition government is not working in the interest of the people.
Meanwhile, the BJP created a ruckus in the assembly over the delay in the floor test. After this, the assembly was adjourned around midnight. That day finally arrived on 23 July 2018. The majority test of the Kumaraswamy government took place in the Karnataka Assembly.
Congress-JDS alliance got 99 votes, while BJP got 105 votes. After about 14 months, the Congress-JDS government fell short of 6 votes.
During the proceedings of the house, 20 MLAs were not present in the assembly. Of these, 15 were rebel MLAs of Congress, and the rest JDS. With this, the drama that lasted for 4 days in the Vidhansabha came to an end.
After this, on 26 July 2019, Yeddyurappa took oath as Chief Minister for the fourth time. On the other hand, the rebel MLAs who had resigned later joined the BJP.
