Yeddyurappa survives crisis, rebel MLAs pledge support

A cat has nine lives. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of B S Yeddyurappa in Karnataka seems to have as many.

In a latest development, the rebel BJP MLAs of Karnataka have offered unconditional support to the government of Yeddyurappa as the chief minister survived yet another crisis and managed to save his ministry.

Ten of the eleven MLAs have written a letter to Governor H R Bhardwaj pledging their support to the Chief Minister while the one remaining also issued a statement to that effect.

“We enjoy the support of 127 MLAs. The government will convene the budget session from May 16,” said a Karnataka BJP V Dhananjaya Kumar, showing the support letter of the 10 MLAs.

The BJP will get the support of all 16 MLAs, including the five Independents, the party said.

The Karnataka Assembly has 224 members.

A total of 16 MLAs — five independents and 11 from the BJP who had rebelled against the CM — were suspended by Speaker K G Bopaiah on Oct 11 last year, hours before B S Yeddyurappa’s trust vote, which he won by a wafer-thin margin.

Earlier, governor Bharadwaj, with whom the government and Yeddyurappa were on a warpath, said the latter should not try to play smart with him by organising shutdowns against the head of state.

Earlier it seemed that Yeddyurappa could be heading for a serious turmoil in his state after rebel legislators and governor H R Bhardwaj hustled in Delhi to discuss their strategy against the graft-accused Karnataka Chief Minister.

A fresh bout of troubles struck the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Karnataka government on Friday when the Supreme Court quashed the suspensions of certain MLAs who were laid off by the state Assembly speaker, allowing Yeddyurappa to scrape through a trust vote.

The Supreme Court ruling came after the the Karnataka High Court on Feb 14 upheld the decision of the state Assembly Speaker to disqualify five Independent legislators under the anti-defection law.

The new verdict sent tremors in the B S Yeddyurappa cabinet since it paved the way for the state?s BJP government to be put on the edge of a cliff and perhaps be led to another trust vote for the chief minister, already battling land scam slur and other problems.

State Governor H R Bhardwaj, not satisfied with the process of voice vote method vote of confidence in the absence of 16 “rebel” legislators, had asked Yeddyurappa to seek trust vote within 72 hours and the BJP ruled coalition won it again by 106 against 100 votes.
On Saturday, after their suspensions were overturned by the apex court, the MLAs landed in New Delhi to discuss their strategy against the chief minister and engaged in feverish negotiations with the top BJP leadership, media reports said.

The legislators, especially those from the BJP, earlier seemed to send out an image that they were very much ready to be part of of the party but wanted Yeddyurappa to go.
But now they have agreed to work under the chief minister.

Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj who shares a publicly bitter relationship with Chief Minister Yeddyurappa met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday and warned of immediate action against the government.

After the meeting, where Bhardwaj apparently discussed the future course of action against Yeddyurappa, he took potshots at the BJP leader, calling the Supreme Court judgement a ?stricture against the Chief Minister and the Speaker?.

Yeddyurappa had said he would take floor test if the governor asked for it.