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.
Background In the 2018 elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the most seats, 104, but the Indian National Congress (INC) and Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) formed a coalition government with 120 out of 224 seats. In the 2019 general election, the BJP-led NDA won 25 out of 28 seats in Karnataka 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. Over the next few days, ten INC and three JD(S) legislators resigned.
The reaction of the coalition government was to attempt to convince the legislators who had submitted their resignations to rescind them. Many of the legislators fled to Mumbai, and directed the police not to permit INC leaders to meet them. 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. It also requested that the speaker should disqualify those who had resigned under anti-defection legislation.
The speaker, K. R. Ramesh Kumar, did not immediately accept the resignations, on grounds that he was constitutionally obliged to scrutinize them. 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.
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. Rohatgi argued that disqualification was a "mini-trial", and so a decision on the resignations should take priority over one on disqualification. 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. 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. 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.
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.
List of members who took back resignation SI No. Constituency Member Party1. BTM LayoutRamalinga ReddyIndian National Congress
List of disqualified legislators S.No Constituency Member Party 2019 by-election results1. RanebennurR. ShankarKarnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha PartyDid not contest. Won by BJP candidate Arunkumar Guththur2. ShivajinagarR. Roshan BaigIndian National CongressDid not contest. Won by INC candidate Rizwan Arshad3. Maski (ST)Pratap Gowda PatilLost to INC candidate Basanagouda Turvihal4. Hoskote M. T. B. Nagaraju Lost to Independent candidate Sharath Kumar Bachegowda5. KagawadShrimant Balasaheb PatilWon back seat as BJP candidate6. KrishnarajapuramByrati Basavaraj7. Rajarajeshwari NagarMunirathna8. Yeshvanthapura S. T. Somashekhar9. GokakRamesh Jarkiholi10. Vijayanagara Anand Singh11. HirekerurB. C. Patil12. AthaniMahesh Kumathalli13. Chikkaballapur Dr. K. Sudhakar14. YellapurArbail Shivaram Hebbar15. Mahalakshmi LayoutK. GopalaiahJanata Dal (Secular)16. KrishnarajpetNarayana Gowda17. HunsurAdagur H. VishwanathLost to INC candidate H. P. Manjunath
Reaction and conclusion The INC members in the Rajya Sabha forced adjournments twice in protest, alleging bribery on the part of the BJP. The BJP demanded that the government should resign.
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 No Could not attend Government resigned thereafter
See also 2010s in political history 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election 2019 Karnataka Legislative Assembly by-elections
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