JD(S)’ googly at Congress; make Horatti Council Chairman
- Congress is hankering after the Legislative Council post, which is held by BJP MLC D H Shankarmurthy
- Shankarmurthy keen on retaining the post; has threatened to disqualify eight MLCs in connection with ‘fake’ TA bills submission case
- Congress has sought JD(S) not to support the BJP; MLCs including K C Kondaiah, Motamma and V S Ugrappa vying for the post
- JD(S) wants to call the shots; has demanded the Congress to make its MLC Basavaraj Horatti the Chairman
FollowThe JD(S), which always ends up playing the ‘kingmaker’, extending support to either of the two national parties as per its convenience, is at it again. This time, the game is on for the Legislative Council Chairman post.
The Congress, which has gained a majority in the Upper House, is now hankering after the Chairman post, which is presently held by BJP MLC D H Shankarmurthy. It has set the ball rolling by issuing a notice to move a no-confidence motion against Shankarmurthy.
Shankarmurthy, who was elected as the Chairman in July 2010, has continued to hold on to the post with the support of the JD(S). Shankarmurthy’s term will end in June 2018, and he had hoped to continue in the post till then. JD(S)’s support has become crucial to Shankarmurthy, especially with the Congress trying to coerce the regional party against backing the BJP.
Suddenly in the limelight, the JD(S) wants to milk the opportunity completely. It has told the Congress that it will not back the BJP, provided JD(S) MLC Basavaraj Horatti is made the Chairman. It has asked the Congress to settle for the deputy chairman post.
D H Shankarmurthy
Speaking to Asianet Newsable, JD(S) spokesperson and MLC, T A Sharavana said that his party would not settle for less. “We extended support to the Congress in the BBMP Council, and look where it has got us. The JD(S) was never once taken into confidence in any of the decision making processes. The Congress released crores of rupees to all the wards under the Nagarottana project, without even allowing for a discussion on the subject, in the BBMP Council. The last straw was the lodging of fake atrocity cases against women corporators. The party had given us several assurances when it had sought our support, but now we have been left stranded,” said Sharavana. He said that the JD(S) had cautioned Mayor Padmavathi G to set things right immediately, else the regional party would withdraw its support.
“When such is the scenario, how can we afford to trust the Congress in the Legislative Council again? That is why we have demanded that Horatti be made the Chairman. He is a six time MLC, and a senior politician. If the Congress disagrees, we will adopt a wait and watch policy until the day of elections. The JD(S) is unhappy with the conduct of both national parties - our MLCs may or may not abstain from voting,” he said.
The JD(S) had earlier said that it would like to maintain a distance from the no-confidence motion issue, and that neither the chairman nor the Congress should misuse the party’s name. If in case voting was necessitated, then the party leadership would announce their stand.
The motion for discussing the no-confidence notice is taken up 14 days after the notice is submitted. Since the notice was submitted on May 30, the matter is expected to be taken up in the House either on June 13 or 14. The monsoon session will conclude on June 15.
The total strength of the House is 75. Of these, two seats are vacant -- due to the demise of BJP’s Vimala Gowda and the governor rejecting the name of Congress leader C M Lingappa’s name as a nominated member recently. In this 75 member House, the Congress has emerged as the single largest party with 32 MLCs. It will also be adding the two vacant seats to its kitty.
The BJP, including the Chairman, has 23 members, while the JD(S) has 13 members. There are five Independent MLCs - and the Congress is certain of gaining support of at least three of them.
