Bengaluru / Karnataka Assembly Speaker resigns after BJP wins trust vote

Twitter : Jul 29, 2019, 01:13 PM
Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar has resigned from his post. He announced his resignation as Karnataka Assembly Speaker soon after BS Yediyurappa government won floor test in the house.

"I have decided to relieve myself from this office...I have decided to resign," said Ramesh Kumar before handing over his resignation letter to the Deputy Speaker Krishna Reddy.

Ramesh Kumar was in the eye political controversy that led to collapse of HD Kumaraswamy government last week. In the wake of resignation by rebel MLAs, Ramesh Kumar's role was crucial in sailing the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government through the crisis.

Ramesh Kumar delayed his decision on the resignations by the rebel MLAs, who said the Karnataka Assembly Speaker was looking for an excuse to disqualify them. Ramesh Kumar, on the other hand, held that under the anti-defection law, he should be absolutely convinced that the MLAs had resigned voluntarily. He said he was not yet sure of the voluntary nature of mass resignation.

The rebel MLAs even moved the Supreme Court seeking directive to Ramesh Kumar, who challenged the contention of the petitioners saying decision on resignation was the sole jurisdiction of the Speaker. The Supreme Court concurred with his argument and ruled that Speaker Ramesh Kumar was unfettered in taking a call on resignations of the MLAs.

Ramesh Kumar also faced severe criticism over the manner in which floor test was held for the Kumaraswamy government. The debate on the floor test went on for four days interrupted by weekends break even though the Opposition members did not participate in it.

Following the fall of HD Kumaraswamy government, Ramesh Kumar disqualified all 17 rebel MLAs. He disqualified them for the entire tenure of the current Karnataka Assembly. The decision goes against the position held by the Election Commission in the case of 18 disqualified MLAs in Tamil Nadu.

The Election Commission had allowed the disqualified MLAs to contest by-polls during the same Assembly.

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