Days After Fall Of Karnataka Govt, Speaker Disqualifies 3 Rebel MLAs

In a new twist to Karnataka politics, Karnataka Assembly speaker K R Ramesh Kumar on Thursday disqualified two Congress rebel MLAs and an Independent legislator till the end of the term of current House in 2023.

The Speaker disqualified independent MLA R Shankar and Congress rebel MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumatalli. The Speaker said he would take a decision on the remaining 14 cases in a "couple of days."

Kumar said the members disqualified under the anti-defection law cannot contest or get elected to the assembly till the end of the term of the House.

He said he was convinced that the resignations by the three members were not voluntary and genuine and he had therefore rejected them and proceeded to disqualify them under the anti-defection law.

"They have violated the provisions of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law) and therefore are disqualified," he said.

In all, 17 petitions had been filed by the Congress and JDS seeking disqualification of rebel MLAs. After announcing the disqualification of Shankar, the Speaker continued with details on the other legislators, whose rebellion led to the collapse of the JDS-Congress coalition
government.

"It was a complicated job and I looked into all aspects. There were 15 different cases I had to look into.

Earlier, Kumar had said he would use his discretion and uphold the faith the Supreme Court has placed in him. He said there was no further opportunity for the rebel MLAs to appear before him and it was a closed chapter now, adding, "law is same for everyone whether it is a labourer or President of India."

The 14-month-old Congress-JDS coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy collapsed on Tuesday after losing the vote of confidence in the assembly in a climax to the three-week long intense power struggle.

(With Agency Inputs)