2019 Karnataka political crisis

The 2019 Karnataka political crisis was a period of political instability when members of the legislative assembly in the Indian State of Karnataka submitted their resignations, which led to the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in the state.[1][2]

2019 Karnataka political crisis
DateJuly 2019
LocationKarnataka, India
TypeParliamentary crisis
CauseResignation of 17 legislators
Participants
Outcome

Background

In the 2018 elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the most seats, 104,[3] but the Indian National Congress (INC) and Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) formed a coalition government with 120 out of 224 seats.[4] In the 2019 general election, the BJP-led NDA won 25 out of 28 seats in Karnataka[5] while the INC-led UPA won two and the Independent Candidate won one.

Resignations

On 1 July, two members, Ramesh Jarkiholi and Anand Singh of the INC submitted their resignations.[2] Over the next few days, ten INC and three JD(S) legislators resigned.[6]

The reaction of the coalition government was to attempt to convince the legislators who had submitted their resignations to rescind them.[6] Many of the legislators fled to Mumbai, and directed the police not to permit INC leaders to meet them.[6] The government also attempted to induce the legislators to return by offering them cabinet posts; all 21 INC ministers resigned on 8 July to ensure that a sufficient number of ministerial berths were available.[7] It also requested that the speaker should disqualify those who had resigned under anti-defection legislation.[8]

The speaker, K. R. Ramesh Kumar, did not immediately accept the resignations, on grounds that he was constitutionally obliged to scrutinize them.[9] Consequently, some of those who had submitted their resignations approached the Supreme Court, which on 12 July agreed to hear the case on 16 July, whilst ordering the speaker not to disqualify any lawmakers or take any other action in this connection.[10]

At the 16 July hearing, Mukul Rohatgi, counsel for the legislators who had submitted their resignations, said that the speaker should be ordered to rule immediately on the resignations.[11] Rohatgi argued that disqualification was a "mini-trial", and so a decision on the resignations should take priority over one on disqualification.[11] Rajeev Dhavan, who appeared for the Chief Minister of Karnataka, argued that the legislators never met the speaker, and consequently the speaker should rule on their disqualifications first.[12] Ranjan Gogoi, the Chief Justice, said that the court would have to balance two competing claims: first, the excuse of resignation could not be used to circumvent anti-defection measures; but, second, claims of defection should not be used to prevent resignation.[12] He also said that the court would have to consider the extent to which it is permitted to issue directions to holders of other constitutional posts, such as that of the speaker of the assembly.[11]

Members responsible for the Crisis

14 INC and 3 JD(S) legislators were responsible for the political crisis. One Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party legislator also left the coalition government. A few days later, INC legislator Ramalinga Reddy withdrew his resignation.[13]

List of members who took back resignation
SI No. Constituency Member Party
1. BTM Layout Ramalinga Reddy Indian National Congress

List of disqualified legislators
S.No Constituency Member Party 2019 by-election results[14]
1. Ranebennur R. Shankar Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party Did not contest. Won by BJP candidate Arunkumar Guththur
2. Shivajinagar R. Roshan Baig Indian National Congress Did not contest. Won by INC candidate Rizwan Arshad
3. Maski (ST) Pratap Gowda Patil Lost to INC candidate Basanagouda Turvihal
4. Hoskote M. T. B. Nagaraju Lost to Independent candidate Sharath Kumar Bachegowda
5. Kagawad Shrimant Balasaheb Patil Won back seat as BJP candidate
6. Krishnarajapuram Byrati Basavaraj
7. Rajarajeshwari Nagar Munirathna
8. Yeshvanthapura S. T. Somashekhar
9. [[Gokak (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Gokak] Belgaum ] Ramesh Jarkiholi
10. [[Vijay Nagar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Vijayanagara] Bellary ] Anand Singh
11. Hirekerur B. C. Patil
12. Athani Mahesh Kumathalli
13. Chikkaballapur Dr. K. Sudhakar
14. Yellapur Arbail Shivaram Hebbar
15. Mahalakshmi Layout K. Gopalaiah Janata Dal (Secular)
16. Krishnarajpet Narayana Gowda
17. Hunsur Adagur H. Vishwanath Lost to INC candidate H. P. Manjunath

Reaction and conclusion

The INC members in the Rajya Sabha forced adjournments twice in protest,[15] alleging bribery on the part of the BJP.[16] The BJP demanded that the government should resign.[17]

Eventually the Congress-JD(S) coalition was reduced to 101 seats, whilst the BJP retained 105. After three weeks of turmoil, Kumarasamy lost a trust vote and resigned. On 26 July 2019, B. S. Yediyurappa was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka once again.

Vote of confidence
Head Count → 23 July 2019
Yes
99 / 206
No
105 / 206
Could not attend
2 / 206
Government resigned thereafter

See also

References
  1. Gowda, Aravind (5 July 2019). "Rebel-rousing in the Congress". India Today. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  2. "Karnataka crisis: Congress steps up efforts to persuade MLA to withdraw resignation from assembly". Times of India. Press Trust of India. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  3. "Who should get first call to form govt in Karnataka? Jury's out". Times of India. TNN (Times News Network). 16 May 2018.
  4. "From results to resort politics: how Karnataka formed its government". The Hindu. May 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  5. "As it happened | Karnataka Lok Sabha results 2019: highlights". The Hindu. 23 May 2019. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  6. ""Serious threat" From Congress Leaders, No Intention Of Meeting Them: Rebel Karnataka MLAs Tell Police". Outlook India. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  7. "All 21 Karnataka Congress Ministers resign to make way for new Cabinet". The Hindu. 8 July 2019. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  8. "Karnataka crisis: Congress seeks disqualification of rebel MLAs; one more quits". Times of India. Press Trust of India. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  9. "Karnataka political crisis updates: Need to ensure resignations are genuine and voluntary, says the Speaker". The Hindu. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  10. Aryan, Aashish (12 July 2019). "SC directs status quo in Karnataka MLA resigning case, next hearing July 16". Business Standard India. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  11. "Speaker should 'decide now' on resignations, Karnataka MLAs tell Supreme Court". The Telegraph. Calcutta. Press Trust of India. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  12. "Karnataka crisis live: speaker says working as per Constitution, Supreme Court order tomorrow". The Economic Times. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  13. "Ramalinga Reddy withdraws resignation". The Hindu. 19 July 2019. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  14. "Karnataka bypoll results Highlights: BJP wins 12 out of 15 seats; state Congress leaders quit posts". The Economic Times. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  15. Das, Shaswati (9 July 2019). "Rajya Sabha adjourned twice over Karnataka crisis". Livemint. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  16. "BJP 'buying' MLAs in Karnataka". Times of India. 6 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  17. "Karnataka crisis: 21 Congress ministers resign; BJP wants Kumaraswamy to step down". India Today. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
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