New Delhi: On Monday, the Supreme is slated to hear the petitions of the 17 disqualified Karnataka MLAs of the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular).
The resignations of these 17 MLAs had brought down the H D Kumaraswamy’s government. The MLAs have petitioned the court to strike down the order by the previous Speaker Ramesh Kumar, which spelt their ineligibility for the upcoming bypolls in the state.
Soon after the Election Commission announced bypolls in the seats represented by the MLAs, Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa rushed to Delhi to meet BJP chief Amit Shah and strategise. On Sunday, Yediyurappa said that he was hopeful of a "positive" judgement by the Supreme Court "since the Speaker has not followed principles of natural justice."
The 15 Assembly segments will go to polls on October 21 and counting of votes will be held on October 24.
The bypolls are crucial for the stability of the BJP government as the party has 104 MLAs (excluding the Speaker) in the 207-member Assembly and it has to win at least ten seats to take its tally to 114, the simple majority mark in a full House of 224 members.
