As HD Kumaraswamy resumed his speech on the trust motion in the Karnataka Assembly on Friday, the Karnataka chief minister appeared to acknowledge that his government was poised on the brink of collapse after the resignation of 16 lawmakers.
Kumaraswamy, who led a Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition government for nearly 15 months, detailed the various attempts that he alleged, were made by the BJP to topple his government and responded to barbs that his brother Revanna was on a temple run to save his government.
“Yes, Revanna goes to temples but we are not naive to think we can save this government through magic,” Kumaraswamy told the assembly in a speech that was meant to initiate the discussion on the trust vote; even insist that he had the numbers. It is not a claim that Kumaraswamy made even once.
Kumaraswamy instead appeared to use the occasion to clear his name of accusations hurled at him by the BJP, underline that he had never hankered for power, much less the chief minister’s chair and drive hard on the message that the BJP had used money to lure away his coalition’s lawmakers.
“I’m not attached to this seat. If I was so desperate to save this government I’d have returned from the USA when Anand Singh resigned (on July 1)… I decided to wait and stick to my engagements,” the chief minister told the assembly on Friday afternoon, echoing a sentiment that he had repeatedly articulated through the day in his speech.
Just a few minutes earlier, Governor Vajubhai Vala had ordered him to secure the assembly’s confidence before the end of day.
Kumaraswamy had already missed the Governor’s first deadline to get the trust motion passed by 1.30 pm.
In the second missive that Kumaraswamy sarcastically described as a “love letter”, Governor Vajubhai Vala had directed that the assembly could sit for longer beyond the 6 pm scheduled sitting if required. “I… require you to prove your majority and complete and conclude the floor test procedure today,” Governor Vala said.
First Published:
Jul 19, 2019 17:05 IST
Source: HindustanTimes