Prove majority before 6 pm today: Karnataka Governor tells CM Kumaraswamy

Deepening the political crisis in Karnataka, the Governor's 1.30 pm Friday deadline for CM Kumaraswamy to prove his majority ended without the Assembly taking up the voting on the motion of confidence

Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala on Friday sent a letter to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and asked him to prove his majority before 6 pm Friday, reported news agency ANI.  

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Congress moved the Supreme Court on Friday, contending that its July 17 order on the resignation of 15 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs was coming in the way of the party issuing whip to its legislators in the ongoing trust vote. 

The application filed by Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao sought clarification on the order, which said the 15 rebel MLAs cannot be compelled to participate in the ongoing Assembly proceedings, saying that the direction compromises with the party's right to issue whip.

It said the apex court's order "whittles down" the power of a political party to issue whip to its MLAs as it has a constitutional right to do so and the court can't restrict that. 

Deepening the political crisis in Karnataka, Governor Vala's 1.30 pm Friday deadline for Chief Minister Kumaraswamy to prove his majority ended without the Assembly taking up the voting on the motion of confidence to decide the fate of his government.

Earlier in the day, as the deadline neared, the ruling coalition had vociferously questioned the Governor's power to issue such a direction, with Kumaraswamy citing a Supreme Court verdict that a Governor cannot act as ombudsman of the legislature. 

As the Assembly clock struck 1.30 pm, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) insisted on a division on the confidence motion moved by Kumaraswamy on Thursday in accordance with the letter by the Governor to him.

Subsequently, amid ruckus, the House was adjourned till 3 pm, with both BJP and Congress members locked in heated exchanges over the Governor's role.