Rizwan Arshad steps out, Laxman Savadi all set to take his place
BENGALURU: With newly-elected MLA Rizwan Arshad resigning as council member, the decks are cleared for DyCM Laxman Savadi to get elected to the Upper House, thus removing the anxiety and uncertainty that hung over his continuation in the ministry. Savadi, who was sworn in as DyCM on August 20, has to mandatorily get elected as member of either House to continue in the BS Yediyurappa cabinet beyond February 20. Savadi, who lost from Athani constituency, is a member of neither the assembly nor the council, and the law mandates that he be elected to either House within six months.
With this period due to end on February 20, only one council seat fell vacant — that of Rizwan Arshad who won from Shivajinagar in the December 6 bypolls. While 13 new MLAs took oath, Rizwan did not, sparking off speculation that the Congress was using him to block Savadi in this game of chess. By not tendering his resignation early, he was only causing the BJP and Savadi some discomfiture. But Rizwan clarified to TNIE that he has already resigned, and the speculation is not true. It is now up to the council chairman to accept the resignation. “I have tendered my resignation as MLC, and council chairman Prathap Chandra Shetty has not yet accepted it,” he said.
Rizwan and newly-elected Hunsur MLA HP Manjunath have written to the Speaker asking to be sworn in on January 16. In any case, when he is sworn in as a member of the Lower House, he ceases to be a member of the Upper House. Once the seat is vacated, the process to get Savadi elected to the council can kick in.
Even if the Congress wanted Rizwan to delay his resignation and cause hardship, government sources said the BJP had considered several options. One was to get a loyal BJP MLC to resign and get Savadi elected. The other option was get Savadi to resign close to February 15 and swear him in again for another six months after a few days. But Rizwan’s resignation has saved the government all those logistical issues.
When council elections are held, the government will have 117 legislators (105+12) as against the Congress-JDS number of 100 MLAs, and the Opposition cannot put up a challenge to the election, which is likely to be unanimous.