BENGALURU: The dilly-dallying by lone Bahujan Samaj Party MLA N Mahesh on his support to the government ended with a tweet on Sunday. The MLA, who has been missing from the crucial assembly session, had on Sunday claimed that he has been instructed to remain neutral on the trust vote by his party high command. In one tweet, BSP Chief Mayawati turned the tables around relieving at least some pressure off the coalition.
“My high command has told me to abstain from voting on trust motion so I won’t attend the session on Monday and Tuesday. I will be in my constituency,” N Mahesh had told reporters on Sunday morning, much to the shock of the coalition partners. With 16 resignations, out of which Ramalinga Reddy has agreed to back the government, two independent MLAs withdrawing support and one MLA Shrimanth Patil admitted in a Mumbai hospital, the coalition’s numbers stand at 101 including the Speaker and a nominated MLA from the Anglo- Indian community, as against the BJP’s 105, excluding support from two independents.
Mahesh abstaining from the trust vote would have pushed the coalition’s numbers down by another MLA. Putting a full stop to Mahesh’s dilemma, BSP Chief Mayawati took it upon herself to provide some relief to the coalition via twitter. “BSP national president Sushri Mayawati has directed party’s Karnataka MLA to vote in support of HD Kumarswamy government,” said a tweet from her account late on Sunday night. Depending on the attendance of the House at the time of voting, this one vote may make all the difference between survival or collapse of the government.