Janata Dal-Secular chief HD Kumaraswamy alleged "horse-trading" in the Karnataka Rajya Sabha elections claiming that Congress leader Siddaramaiah was pressurising JD-S MLAs to not vote for their own party but that of the candidate of the grand old party.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, he said, he is not giving priority to such things and was concentrating on strengthening the party.
The court, however, kept the disqualification in suspension for one month, allowing Swamy to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
On May 18, the Special Court for Elected Representatives issued an arrest warrant against Prajwal Revanna, following an application moved by the SIT.
Former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy claimed on Tuesday that he was not in touch with his nephew Prajwal.
'There are several people connected to this (sexual abuse cases), I don't want to take anyone's names. Kumaraswamy has said that those who are involved in this matter, action should be taken against all of them, and the affected women should get justice and compensation'
The 33-year-old grandson of JD-S supremo H D Deve Gowda is expected to land in Bengaluru in the small hours of May 31.
He said he has directed police to identify, trace and secure the victims in view of the alleged kidnapping of a victim at Krishnaraja Nagar town in Mysuru district.
Several BJP and JD-S leaders joining the Congress ahead of the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka is an evidence to prove that public sentiment is in favour of the party and it will come to power, its state unit President D K Shivakumar said on Monday.
He also said it will be difficult, as he is the lone Congress member in Lok Sabha from Karnataka.
Asserting that the JD-S does not practice opportunistic politics, Gowda while defending the decision to ally with the BJP said, "This party has to be saved, which has been his pain and struggle for decades, and there is no selfishness in this....I took the decision."
The party leadership blamed two of its MLAs, Srinivas Gowda from Kolar and S R Srinivas from Gubbi, for betraying the party.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka had the last laugh as it won all the three Rajya Sabha seats it had contested in, out of total of four from the state that went for polls on Friday, while the Congress managed to win only one of the two seats to which it had fielded its candidates.
The meeting did not make much headway towards finding a solution to the Karnataka crisis.
The lawmakers have said that they had moved the Supreme Court after tendering their resignation, which had also directed the Speaker to consider their resignation.
'The BJP is using all the central agencies at its disposal (to undermine us).' 'We are also taking care that our MLAs are not poached.'
The Congress has accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy to topple the party's coalition government with the Janata Dal-Secular in Karnataka.
The MLAs who were seen at the Speaker's office include, Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Pratap Gowda Patil (Maski), Shivram Hebbar (Yellapur), Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani), B C Patil (Hirekerur), Byratibasavaraj (K R Puram), S T Soma Shekar (Yashwanthpur) and Ramalinga reddy (BTM Layout) of the Congress. The JD-S MLAs are A H Vishwanath (Hunsur), who recently resigned as party's state chief, Narayana Gowda (K R Pet), and Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout).
The missive to the chief minister came as the MLAs were reportedly shepherded to Mumbai last night and kept in a five-star hotel to apparently prevent them from being poached for the June 11 biennial polls to four RS seats from the state.
A demand was also made that the Election Commission take appropriate action over the alleged money deal.
The counting will begin at 8 am, and as per the Election Commission's COVID-19 guidelines, a candidate, his poll agent and counting agent can remain present in the counting hall, officials said, adding various measures have been taken to ensure social distancing and avoid crowding.
'It must have stung Devendra Fadnavis to see Modi asking MPs at the BJP parliamentary party meeting to give Yediyurappa a standing ovation for his victory in the by-elections that has resulted in pulling the BJP government in Karnataka off the ventilator,' notes Aditi Phadnis.
Kumaraswamy said he was ready for probe by even an international agency.
Extensive arrangements have been made due to the COVID-19 pandemic including personal protective equipment kits for election staff, more polling booths, thermal screening, sanitisers, masks and gloves for voters and markings to ensure social distancing, officials said.
The stand-off between the government and opposition continued in the assembly on Tuesday over an SIT probe into the audio clip.
The MLAs -- Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumtalli, Umesh Jadhav, and Nagendra -- did not ascribe any reason for not attending the opening day's session.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to vote in large numbers. "Today, there are bypolls taking place in various places across India. I urge those voting in these seats to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy," he said in a tweet.
The Congress has convened a CLP meeting on Friday ahead of budget presentation and warned its MLAs that absence would invite action under the Anti-Defection Law.
10 reasons why the Congress-JD-S government is on the brink of collapse.
Speaker Ramesh Kumar said the motion of confidence would reach finality on Monday and it would not be prolonged further under any circumstances, to which the government agreed.
In a counter offensive after 13 MLAs resigned on Saturday dealing a blow to the 13-month-old government, a delegation of Congress leaders met Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar and submitted the petition seeking, under the anti-defection law, disqualification of the rebel legislators in line with the decision taken at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party on Tuesday.
The CM, however, said he would abide by the high command's decision.
The speaker told Kumaraswamy that "this (SIT) should not lead to a witch-hunt. The probe should be only to establish the truth."
The confidence motion moved by Kumaraswamy was defeated with 99 members voting for the motion and 105 against it in a House of 225 including speaker P R Ramesh Kumar and a nominated member.
The victories with huge margins came as a Diwali gift and a shot in the arm for the nearly six-month-old alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls after facing frequent questions about its longevity.
'Why is the entire Cabinet running around in Bangalore?' 'Why are they making arrangements for horse-trading?' 'Is this not the BJP's greed for power?' 'They have won the entire country. Why are they so desperate for Karnataka?'
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