"Horse trading band karo (Stop horse trading of MLAs)," Congress members shouted from the well.
Those present in the jam-packed courtroom number six burst into laughter when the judge shared his moment of coming across this funny stuff on Whatsapp.
There appears to be no solution in sight to the ongoing crisis in the Karnataka unit of Bharatiya Janata Party.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka facing political crisis, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and newly-elected Vice President Rahul Gandhi held detailed discussions with former External Affairs Minister and senior party leader S M Krishna about the political scene ahead of the May assembly polls there.
Owing to the soon-to-be released Lokayukta report, political tensions are at an all time high in Karnataka. Leaked portions from the report have suggested that Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has a mention in that report, which has given the opposition the required ammunition to start firing at him once again.
A new single bench of the Karnataka high court on Wednesday adjourned the disqualification of 11 rebel Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Legislative Assembly who had challenged their disqualification from the state assembly. The case had come up before Justice V G Sabhahith after the court delivered a split verdict two days ago on the petitions. Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice N Kumar had differed on the provisions the Constitution
The prime minister assured the delegation that the Centre would go by the spirit of the Constitution, but did not give any specific timeframe, said BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu.
The biggest loser in the ongoing political tug-of-war between the Janata Dal-Secular and the Bharatiya Janata Party will be the state of Karnataka, which has incurred a loss of $5 billion in terms of business investments. Market pundits say that the perennial political instability in the state and indecision by the government in the past one year has lead to the loss of investment opportunities.
Senior Congress leaders met Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur on Sunday and requested him to keep the party posted before any decision about the future of the state is taken. Although the Congress did not spell out its plans in detail, the indication was that it is still hopeful of forming the government in Karnataka. Insiders said that they are expecting the JD-S to support the Congress so that the state does not have to face mid-term elections.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party deciding to move its Karnataka battleground to Delhi to parade its 105 MLAs before President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday, the Congress core committee, which met on Monday evening, decided to wait and watch the situation and not take any decision in haste.
A Raj Bhavan communication issued on Wednesday states that 14 BJP MLAs and 5 Independents have withdrawn their support from the government.
The political crisis in Karnataka BJP seemed headed for a resolution with warring factions led by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the Reddy brothers saying an announcement is likely by this evening.
Some BJP leaders believe the issue is not about Yeddyurappa's moves to contain the mining interests of the Reddy brothers in Bellary. The Rajnath Singh camp, which is pitted in a bitter battle with the Advani camp, has been accusing former Union minister Ananth Kumar, who is close to Advani, of triggering the crisis.
Crisis in the Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit appeared to worsen on Friday with former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa insisting on a February 27 ultimatum for his reinstatement and party president Nitin Gadkari ruling out replacing incumbent Sadananda Gowda. Yeddyurappa, who was forced to resign more than six months ago after a Lokayukta report indicted him on illegal mining, made it clear to the party chief that he was in no mood to wait any longer.
Party stalwarts like Dharam Singh and Mallikarjun Kharge, however, seem to have no problem with the Congress teaming up with the JD-S, as they feel that their main efforts should be directed towards preventing the BJP from coming to power.
In the midst of the all the drama that is taking place with regard to the transfer of power in Karnataka, one thing becomes clear and that is the Bharatiya Janata Party at the moment is in no mood for compromise.
The much-hyped report of the Lokayukta is all set to be made public. While political parties are discussing ways of having the upper hand, it is the Governor who will play a major role in the future once this report is released.
The legislators had earlier been lodged in a resort on the outskirts of Chennai.
There appears to be no solution in sight to the ongoing crisis in the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party with the Reddy brothers -- comprising state Tourism Minister G Janardhan Reddy and Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy, who are spearheading a faction to oust BS Yeddyurappa from the CM's chair -- refusing to settle for anything less than a leadership change in the state.
While the wait for Yeddyurappa to quit is over, the Karnataka crisis is far from over. There is still no clarity on who would be the next chief minister of Karnataka although the acting CM Yeddyurappa has said that he wants Sadananda Gowda, a Lok Sabha member, to be the next CM.
The 14 days old Karnataka crisis is finally over. Terming the truce a birthday gift to L K Advani, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the 'rebel' Janardhan Reddy said at a joint press conference -- that the crisis is over and they are returning to Karnataka to work for the flood-relief victims.
The apex court, in a plethora of verdicts, has given varying judicial opinions on Speakers' powers ranging from refusing to intervene in the matter to assuming the role of the Speaker itself and going to the extent of disqualifying lawmakers under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.
Different options to defuse the crisis threatening the existence of the coalition had reportedly emerged at the Gowda-Gandhi meeting but both parties have remained tightlipped on the outcome of the talks.\n\n
He flew down to Mumbai as a Congress troubleshooter with a mission to save the wobbly coalition government in Karnataka, but minister D K Shivakumar hardly found any support from the Maharashtra unit of his party in his task and was sent packing to his home state.
Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has indicated that he will hold the finance portfolio.
The Karnataka chief minister said he is waiting for directions from the Congress high command.
The Congress, who has presently become a "leaderless" party, has also been facing multiple shocks at the state levels.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the Karnataka issue and accused the ruling party of 'poaching' its MLAs in the state.
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.
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