K.R. Ramesh Kumar, the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly, on the 11th of July, said, he needs time to examine resignations submitted by the 13 rebel Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of Karnataka.
The statement of Mr. Kumar came after he met with the MLAs of Karnataka, who are willing to resign from their respective Assembly segments due to internal disputes.
After the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the MLAs to meet Ramesh Kumar, the MLAs held a meeting with the Karnataka Assembly Speaker, following which, he said, “You cannot expect me to work at lightning speed. I have to go through the procedure as per the Constitution. I need to examine these resignations all night and ascertain if they are genuine.”
Ramesh said he will scrutinise the resignation letters and will accept them once he is satisfied. He said, “The legislators wrote their resignation in my office in the prescribed format and submitted to me personally. I will go through them and decide after I hear them personally.”
According to sources, previously, Ramesh Kumar refused to accept the resignation letters as they were written in an incorrect format. He asked the MLAs to write the letter in a correct format and also mention their reasons for resigning from their respective Assembly segments.
Ramesh Kumar justified his answer, stating he is answerable to the Constitution of India and the people of Karnataka. He said, “As per the Constitution, if I am satisfied, then the resignations will be accepted.”
Ramesh Kumar also asked the MLAs to meet him on the 17th of July, following which, he would decide whether he will accept the resignations or not.
Mr. Kumar will appear in front of the Supreme Court judges and submit a report regarding the meeting which took place on the evening of the 11th of July.
The delay in accepting the resignations could be a chance for the Karnataka Government, the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD[S,]) to stand again, as the 10 day Assembly session of Karnataka is scheduled to begin on the 12th of July.
As of now, the MLAs are bound to attend the Assembly session due to the required attendance, otherwise they would have to face disciplinary action and disqualification, which could bar them from re elections for the Assembly in the future.
The Indian National Congress (INC) and the JD(S) issued whips to MLAs and asked them to be present in the Assembly sessions.
Ravi Gowda, the Spokesperson of the INC in Karnataka, said, “The whip has been issued even to the rebels, as their resignations have not been accepted by the Speaker so far.”
However, the MLAs who submitted their resignations said disqualification would not be applicable to them as they already resigned from their posts.
The Karnataka Assembly session is scheduled to start from the 12th of July.
Stay tuned for further updates.
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