Karnataka trust vote on July 18

New Delhi/Bengaluru: Former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday announced that the confidence motion moved by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy will be taken up by the Karnataka Assembly on July 18.

The BJP had earlier in the day sought to move a no-confidence motion against the HDK government, which is battling for survival after 16 lawmakers of the ruling coalition resigned from the Assembly.

The BJP issued a notice to Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar during the Business Advisory Committee meeting attended by party leader BS Yeddyurappa seeking to move the no-confidence motion. "Yes, we have given a notice to move a no-confidence motion," party state general secretary CT Ravi said.

As many as 16 MLAs — 13 from the Congress and three from JD(S) — have resigned from the Assembly while two Independent MLAs S Shankar and H Nagesh have withdrawn their support to the coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy.

The disgruntled MLAs, who have turned against the government, are camping in Mumbai. The Speaker is yet to accept their resignations as the matter is pending before the Supreme Court which will hear the case again on Tuesday.

The MLAs have not turned up for the Assembly proceedings, which began on Friday last.

The apex court on Monday agreed to hear a plea of five more rebel Congress MLAs along with the pending petition of 10 legislators seeking a direction to the Karnataka Assembly Speaker to accept their resignation. With en masse resignations, the government has been pushed to the brink of collapse.

In a surprise move amid the existential crisis faced by his government, Kumaraswamy had on Friday announced he would seek a trust vote to end the 'confusion' caused by resignations of rebel MLAs while asserting he was "ready for everything".

The ruling coalition's total strength is 116 (Congress-78, JD(S)-37 and BSP-1), besides the Speaker. With the support of the two Independents, the BJP has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where the half-way mark is 113.

If the resignations of the 16 MLA

s are accepted, the coalition's tally will be reduced to 100.

Meanwhile, Karnataka MLAs camping at a hotel in Mumbai may skip the confidence motion moved on July 18, indicate sources.

The Karnataka rebel MLAs in Mumbai are unlikely to fly to Bengaluru on Thursday when the Congress-JD(S) government would face the floor test, a source involved in coordinating the stay of the legislators in Mumbai said.

Three to four more Karnataka MLAs are likely to switch to BJP, the source said.