DRAMA GOES ON
| Date :21-Jul-2019 |
THE Karnataka Assembly is epicenter of a bizarre political drama which has now snowballed into a Constitutional crisis. A simple process of seeking a vote of trust by the incumbent Government has turned into an intriguing tale which has seen directives of the Governor being ignored and a Supreme Court ruling on rebel MLAs being interpreted in all possible ways. An end to this farcical drama is in sight on Monday but given the ways Chief Minister Mr. H D Kumaraswamy is adopting and the strange working of Speaker Mr. K R Ramesh Kumar, an inconceivable turn to the entire episode cannot be ruled out. The ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition Government led by Mr. Kumaraswamy is facing an imminent collapse. The fortnight-long political crisis stemmed from the resignation of 15 MLAs whose papers were not accepted by the Speaker. They moved the Supreme Court which ruled in their favour allowing them to skip the House proceedings and subsequent trust vote.
Strangely, the Speaker is still sitting on their resignations and the House discussion is merely revolving around technicalities. This is nothing but mockery of democratic norms. All this drama is not new to Karnataka whose political community has almost made it a norm to create an annual show. Mr. Kumaraswamy sought the vote of confidence ten days ago. The Karnataka Assembly is seized of the issue and yet there are no signs of an actual vote of confidence. Despite two directives from the Governor, Mr. Vajubhai Vala, to the Chief Minister to hold the trust vote on Friday itself, the ruling coalition and the Speaker chose to bypass the “love letters” from Raj Bhawan and yet again sought a prayer in the Apex Court.
All these moves deserve severe condemnation as they undermine the constitutional authority of the Governor’s post. The Governor is the head of the State and an appellate authority in upholding the Constitution. The drama unfolding in Karnataka Assembly seeks to establish an unhealthy precedent that the Governor’s writ does not run outside of Raj Bhawan. It demands a thorough probe by the Central Government and also a detailed report from Mr. Vajubhai Vala. It is obvious that the Congress and JD(S) are employing every trick available to delay the vote. The Speaker is allowing MLAs to go on their address, who in turn are taking their own sweet time in discussing and even raising objections on issues that are being raised during the motion of confidence. Interestingly, the issues being discussed are hardly related to initial submission on the confidence motion by the Chief Minister.
The debate on Friday was about the Governor’s right to set deadlines with Mr. Kumaraswamy stating that “the Governor cannot act as an ombudsman of the legislature”. It is clear that the Congress and JD(S) cannot save their Government. Despite their attacks on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging abduction and coercion of their MLAs, the ruling coalition has to take the trust vote. By delaying it through means that are detrimental to democracy and by hanging on the premise that the tide may turn in their favour in the Supreme Court, Congress-JD(S) are only harming their future prospects.