Karnataka LIVE: Assembly proceedings adjourned till 3.30 pm

Karnataka Crisis LIVE UPADTES: The Karnataka Assembly session has been adjourned for lunch break. Proceedings will resume at 3.30 PM. The all-important session of the Vidhana Soudha began earlier in the day. Karnataka Assembly Speaker Kr Ramesh Kumar began his address by saying that, “I apologise for the delay. I had to hear everyone's pleas and take a stand.” He also added that, “Siddaramaiah had raised a point of how the SC's order might not mean that we cannot issue Whip. He had also filed a petition asking if the Whip will apply to the MLAs or not.” More importantly, Kumar said that, “I will have to pass a ruling today. I was delayed as I was checking the Supreme Court order.”

Earlier in morning, the Supreme Court on Monday refused give an early hearing on plea by two Independent Karnataka MLAs seeking a direction to conclude floor test in Assembly today. Independent lawmakers R Shankar and H Nagesh, who had quit the Congress-JDS alliance, had moved the top court with the plea. In their petition, the MLAs said, “It is apprehended that the Chief Minister of Karnataka, who is heading the minority government, may make himself scarce from the proceedings on 22.7.19. It has been reliably learnt that in a desperate attempt to avoid the trust vote, the Chief Minister of Karnataka may also rake up an emergent situation and use medical emergencies including hospitalisation.”

Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar sends notice to rebel Congress MLAs, asking them to appear before him on Tuesday at 11 am, @path2shah reports.#KarnatakaFloorTest

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In another related development on Monday, Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar has sent notice to the rebel MLAs staying in Mumbai. The lawmakers have been asked to appear before Kumar on 11am tomorrow. It is too early to say that these two developments will have any impact on the trust vote in Karnataka’s Vidhana Soudha today. Governor Vajubhai Vala has given 5 pm deadline for the trust vote to be concluded today.

On Sunday, ahead of today’s trust vote, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy issued a statement via Twitter, in which he said that he was not ‘clinging to power.’

"It is a matter of immense pain and disgust that the BJP has not only taken Karnataka's political scenario to a new low, but also set a new benchmark in the country for immoral politics. The BJP has made a mockery of democracy by taking away several MLAs from ruling coalition forcefully. The TV footages have clearly shown  BJP leaders and functionaries accompanying our MLAs to Mumbai in special aircrafts," he said.

"The BJP has been demanding that I must resign immediately and has even got the Raj Bhavan to set deadlines for putting the confidence motion into vote. I want to make it amply clear that I am not trying to cling onto power. My only intention of seeking time for debate on trust vote is to let the entire country know how the BJP, which talks of morality, is trying to subvert the very principles of democracy as well as Constitution," Kumaraswamy said in his statement.

"I request them to explain on the floor of the House how the BJP sabotaged democratic edifice and destroyed its sanctity. I also want to tell such MLAs that let there be no hesitation. Let us save this democratically elected government from the evil forces which are trying to shake the very foundation of democracy by misusing their political influence," he further said.