Congress Loses Trust Vote In Karnataka Legislative Council As JD(S) Votes In Favour Of BJP
In a major setback to the ruling party, the Congress today suffered a setback after losing a motion of confidence against the chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council D H Shankara Murthy of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by one vote.
The motion was introduced in the council yesterday (15 June) and the party needed 38 votes in its favour. The council presently has 34 members representing the Congress, 21 representing the BJP, 13 representing the Janata Dal (Secular) and five independent members. Two seats are currently vacant. The Congress was unable to get enough votes in its favour with all 13 JD(S) legislators voting against the motion.
Till late Wednesday night, when there was a common opinion to make senior JD(S) MLC Basavaraj Horratti the council chairman, Congress resisted it. But early on Thursday morning, they came to me with the offer of making Horratti chairperson. We decided to reject the offer as it would dent the party image.JD(S) State President HD Kumaraswamy
Opposition leader K S Eshwarappa of the BJP was hopeful that this move would be indicative of a BJP-JD(S) tie-up for the upcoming Legislative Assembly elections in 2018. Kumaraswamy, however, clarified that this was not to happen.