Three disqualified K'taka MLAs to move SC tomorrow, other 14 may follow

Three disqualified Karnataka MLAs will move the Supreme Court on Monday to challenge the Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar's decision to disqualify them under the anti-defection law.

Congress legislators Ramesh Jarakiholi and Mahesh Kumathalli and Independent R Shankar were disqualified by the Speaker on June 25.

Other 14 MLAs, who were disqualified by the Speaker earlier today, are also likely to join their petition, said the sources.

With the significant development, a total of 17 rebel MLAs from Congress-JD(S) have been disqualified by the Speaker.

All the disqualified MLAs cannot contest elections until the expiry of the term of the 15th Legislative Assembly, said the Speaker.

Out of the 14 MLAs, 11 of them are from Congress. The disqualified legislators include -- Pratap Gowda Patil, BC Patil, Shivanand Hebbar, ST Somashekar, Shrimant Patil, BA Basavaraja, Anand Singh, R Roshan Baig, Muniratna, K Sudhakar and MTB Nagaraj.

Earlier this month, the rebel MLAs had pulled out from the Congress-JD(S) coalition, plunging the coalition government into a minority in the 225-member Assembly, which led to a political crisis in the state.

After days of high-drama and heated debates, the government fell on July 23 as it lost the trust vote in the House.

Following the defeat, HD Kumaraswamy submitted his resignation to Governor Vajubhai Vala at Raj Bhavan, along with his cabinet ministers.

The defeat marked the end of an uneasy coalition that was formed after the assembly polls on May 23, 2018, which returned a hung verdict after three main parties in the state -- Congress, BJP and the JD(S) contested against each other in the polls.

BJP Karnataka president BS Yediyurappa took oath as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka on July 26 and is set to take the trust vote tomorrow.