Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, sworn in for a fourth time last week, was due to move a confidence motion in the Assembly in Bengaluru on Monday to prove his majority, with the Speaker’s disqualification of rebel MLAs making his task easier.

Preparations

The state BJP held a legislature party meeting on Sunday at Hotel Chancery Pavilion in Bengaluru, where its MLAs were to spend the night. Afterwards, Yediyurappa said he would move the confidence motion and then introduce the Finance Bill, which he expected both the Congress and the JD(S) to support. He said he had not altered “even a comma or full stop” in the bill drafted by the previous government, and that it had to pass urgently so that funds could be drawn to pay salaries.

Yediyurappa is said to be confident partly because the rebel MLAs stayed away from the earlier vote. But the rebels, who have now lost their seats, could make life difficult for him outside the House if he does not stand by them.

How the numbers changed

The Congress-JD(S) government lost its trust vote 99-105 after 20 legislators, 17 rebels and one each from the Congress, the BSP and an Independent, were absent. Three of them were disqualified on Thursday and all 17 rebels by Sunday: 14 from the Congress and three from the JD(S), until the end of the term in 2023. Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar said they cannot contest by-elections during the current term, though they may challenge his decision in court.

The effective strength of the 224-member House, excluding the Speaker who holds a casting vote, is now 207, with 104 needed for a majority. The BJP has 106 including one Independent, the Congress 66 including the nominated member, the JD(S) 34, and there is one BSP member, who was expelled by his party for not supporting the Kumaraswamy government on July 23.

Who was disqualified

The Congress MLAs disqualified on Sunday were Anand Singh, Pratap Gowda Patil, Byrati Basavaraj, BC Patil, Roshan Baig, Shivram Hebbar, K Sudhakar, ST Somashekar, MTB Nagaraj, Munirathna and Shrimant Patil. Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumatalli and Shankar had been disqualified on Thursday. The JD(S) members were Gopalaiah, AH Vishwanath and Narayana Gowda. Many of the disqualified MLAs, still in Mumbai, said they would challenge the action in the Supreme Court.

See also: Bharatiya Janata Party | State assembly members

Originally published on 29 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us