Amidst worsening political crisis, Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar on Tuesday said that out of the 13 lawmakers who submitted their resignation, eight have not done it in the correct format as per the guidelines of the Karnataka Assembly Act.
The Speaker further said the remaining five have been given two days time to meet him. He said he will meet two of the members on July 12 after the Assembly session and the remaining three after July 15.
Kumar said he has written to the Governor stating that none of the rebel MLAs met him after submitting their resignations.
The Karnataka Speaker had earlier claimed that every step he takes will become history.
“I have to make a conscious decision. Every step I take will become history, so I can’t be committing a mistake. Future generations should not look at me like an accused.”
Earlier in the day, Kumar had said that he will act according to the law.
“I have certain rules. I’ll go by that. Then decision will be taken. I have to be responsible. Certain things in law are implied. Office of Speaker should behave responsibly. No time-frame is mentioned there,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.
Kumar added that the “clause says if the Speaker is convinced that the resignations are voluntary and genuine, he can accept otherwise. I do not know, I am not a well-read man. I have to see”.
Meanwhile, the Congress staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha over the political crisis in Karnataka. The Rajya Sabha also witnessed uproar over the issue with Congress members storming the well of the House and raising slogans, leading to adjournment of proceedings for the day.
A total of 16 MLAs have resigned from the ruling alliance – 11 from Congress and three from JD (S) by Saturday and two more, including one Independent on Monday.
Karnataka Congress lawmaker Roshan Baig who was suspended for “anti-party activities”, resigned today.
Many of the rebel MLAs are reportedly staying at an undisclosed location in Mumbai.
The Congress has accused the BJP of trying to destabilise the state government.
Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were directly involved in destabilising the Karnataka coalition government.