BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday proved his majority in the Assembly winning the confidence motion by a voice vote. Later in the day, Speaker Ramesh Kumar tendered his resignation after the Finance bill was passed.
With the numbers game favouring the BJP government, the Congress and JDS did not press for division on the one-line motion moved by Yediyurappa that the House expresses confidence in his three-day-old Ministry.
As the Opposition did not press for division, the Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar declared that the motion had been passed by a voice vote.
Soon afterwards, Ramesh Kumar, who was elected as Speaker by the previous government hastily bid goodbye, but not before a soul-stirring speech, truly Ramesh Kumar style.
On the disqualification orders of MLAs he said he was not under any illusion that he had made history after disqualifying them.
Speaking of corruption, he pointed out that its root was in the electoral process where representatives paid money for votes. He said one needs only a heart to fight this, nothing else.
He explained the genesis of how he was chosen as Speaker and about how Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary KC Venugopal spoke to him to accept the post of Speaker with the approval of Siddararamaiah.
Speaking about how nepotism is dangerous he said, ''Democratic values diminish when political parties destroy their structural form and indulge in advancing personal and family interests.''
Kumar, who cut short the speech of DK Shivakumar claiming he wanted to head to Hyderabad for the funeral of Former Union minister Jaipal Reddy, went on speak for over 10 long minutes.
''I have performed my duty according to my conscience. I will not succumb to any pressure nor I have the nature of putting pressure on others,'' he claimed.
"I don’t know why I was invited for the launch of a book on you (Yediyurappa) when you were not in power. With due respect to you, I gave a tough talk. I still stand by those words. However good you are, the moment you come to power, people surround you diminishing your aura," he said.
He said, "While nominations are filed, suppose I declare that I have Rs 1000 crore the Election Commission should ask where I got the money from but till now they never probed it. They blindly accept when I declare wealth. Why there should be unnecessary provisions that deceive people? Once the affidavit is filed, it should be sent to the Enforcement Directorate and an inquiry should happen. Every detail should be laid before the people."
The BJP was expected to have a smooth sail with the trust vote, as the disqualification of 17 rebel MLAs by the Speaker on Sunday had reduced the effective strength of the 225-member Assembly to 208.
The magic figure for simple majority was 105, equivalent to the strength of the BJP, which also commanded the support of an Independent.
The Congress has 66 members, JDS 34, the Speaker one (who has a casting vote in case of a tie) and one expelled BSP member who was thrown out of the party for violating its directive to vote for the H D Kumaraswamy government during the trust vote on July 23.
(With inputs from PTI)