In a major embarrassment to the ruling Congress in Karnataka, Legislative Council chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy (77) retained his chair in the no-trust vote moved by the ruling party on Thursday. The Congress' no-trust motion against the incumbent chairman was defeated in the Upper House by one vote.
Vidhana Soudha
While the no-confidence motion against the chairman is unprecedented in Karnataka Legislature, the JD(S) members joining the BJP to vote against the motion has been a significant political move, ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections.
The magic number to unseat the chairman of the 75-member House being 37, the support of 12 JD(S) members was inevitable to swing it either ways, as the Congress holds 33 seats and the BJP 23 (following the demise of MLC Vimala Gowda). The tally of 36 votes in favour of the motion and 37 against it was possible after the votes of the five independents too split—three for the Congress and two for the BJP.
On Tuesday, Congress MLCs led by V.S. Ugrappa tabled the resolution in the House, which was admitted by Shankaramurthy (in the chair) as the 14-day notice period after issuing notice to the Council secretariat came to an end.
High drama prevailed over the last two days as both the national parties claimed the JD(S) had pledged their support to them. Amid the chaos, on the eve of the trust vote, JDLP leader H.D. Kumaraswamy declared that his party would support Shankaramurthy. JD(S) also issued whip to its members to be present in the house when the crucial voting takes place.
In the morning, Shankaramurthy remained confined to his chamber, even as the Upper House went on business as usual, with deputy chairman Marithibbegowda in the chair. Speaking to reporters, a visibly hurt Shankaramurthy reiterated that he has been holding the post (since 2011) owing to the alliance between BJP and the JD(S) and not because of the Congress' courtesy. “Democracy is a number-game. I am confident the JD(S) will support me,” he said.
KPCC chief and ruling party leader in the Upper House Dr G. Parameshwar claimed that JD(S) had agreed to support the Congress on the condition that their candidate Basavaraj Horatti would replace Shankaramurthy. “We are ready to support a JD(S) candidate for the post as we share secular credentials. We want to remove the candidate belonging to the communal party at any cost,” said Parameshwara. Sources added that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tried to reach out to JD(S) patriarch H.D. Devegowda to garner JD(S) support in the last minute. However, Devegowda went incommunicado after entrusting the responsibility to his son Kumaraswamy.
BJP leader and leader of the opposition in council K.S. Eshwarappa hit back at the Congress for dubbing his party as “communal” saying, “Congress is the most casteist party. To understand the caste-politics played by them, just look at the composition of KPCC. They have consciously chosen caste leaders—a brahmin (Dinesh Gundurao) and lingayat (S.R. Patil) are working presidents, a dalit is KPCC chief and Kuruba is the CM, and a vokkaliga leader (D.K. Shivakumar) is to lead their campaign committee. And they calling us communal.”
Soon after the trust vote, Kumaraswamy hit out at the Congress stating that it had taken JD(S) too lightly. “They could have approached us a week back and sought our support. However, they did make us the offer (to support Horatti's candidature). What we have done now is help keep the status quo - BJP man as the chairman and our member Marithibbegowda as the deputy chairman,” clarified Kumaraswamy, who was quick to add that the alliance was restricted to the Council alone and did not extend to the upcoming Assembly polls.
The BJP, too, is said to have assured the JD(S) of the chairman's post in near future, though Shankaramurthy's term ends only in June 2018.
Shankaramurthy, a senior BJP leader from Shivamogga, associated with the RSS since 1966, got elected to the Upper House from South West Graduate Constituency for the first time in 1988, and has held the seat since then. He was also the higher education minister in the JD(S)-BJP coalition government in 2006. He became the Council chairman in 2010. Recent buzz in the BJP circles was that the veteran is being considered for the post of governor of a southern state, but that buzz has faded.
