K'taka Crisis: Speaker Summons Rebel MLAs Tomorrow; CM Proposes Trust Vote On Wednesday

New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has reportedly proposed a new date for the trust vote, which is scheduled to take place on Monday in Karnataka Assembly. He has proposed to hold the trust vote on Wednesday, instead of Monday, at the business advisory committee. Meawhile, the 12 rebel MLAs of Karnataka Assembly who are currently lodged in a Mumbai hotel, have been summoned by Speaker Ramesh Kumar to meet him at his office at 11am on Tuesday, over the disqualification petition filed against them by coalition leaders. The floor-test which would decide the fate of the fragile Congress-JDS government in Karnataka is scheduled for today, even as the rebel MLAs on Sunday bluntly refused to compromise on their stand. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had even made an appeal to them to attend the House in an effort to save his 14-month old ministry by exposing the BJP, but the MLAs ruled out attending the session. Reports have it that the government was still trying to prolong the discussion on the confidence motion to delay the floor test in a hope of some kind of relief from the Supreme Court. The apex court on Monday, refused to urgently list a plea of two Independent Karnataka MLAs seeking holding of floor test forthwith, but said it may consider listing of the petition Tuesday. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said, "Impossible. We have never done this before. Tomorrow we may see to it." After the voting on confidence motion did not take place despite two deadlines on July 19 set by Governor Vajubhai Vala, two Independent MLAs, who withdrew support to the Congress-JD(S) government moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction for conducting a floor test forthwith in the state Assembly. With the 15 rebels, including 12 of the Congress and 3 of the JD-S deciding not to attend the session and two Congress legislators (B. Nagendra and Srimant Patil) being in a Bengaluru and Mumbai private hospitals, the strength of the allies will be 99 (65 out of 79 of Congress plus 34 out of 37 of JD-S), including the Speaker (from Congress) in the 225-member Assembly.