Don't make me scapegoat, complete trust vote: Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar

Bengaluru: As suspense continues over Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's resignation, Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar has said that will not allow the House to get adjourned even if he has to sit till night.

Kumar has asked the Congress-JDS to complete the trust vote on Monday itself. Earlier, it was said that HDK has sought an appointment with Governor Vajubhai Vala at 7pm and may quit without floor test. However, sources in the CMO denied the claims and said that no such meeting was sought.

The Speaker urged the Congress-JDS alliance to proceed with the trust vote, saying "everyone was watching them" and he should not "be made the scapegoat" in the political crisis.

As the Assembly reconvened on Monday, there were voices demanding a final call on the resignation of rebel MLAs but Kumar fixed a 6pm deadline for the trust vote.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court refused to urgently hear the plea of two independent legislators demanding an immediate floor test by 5pm.

The fate of the fragile Congress-JDS government in Karnataka hangs in balance, even as a new twist to the political saga saw the grand old party assert that the JDS was "ready to sacrifice" for the coalition and they wanted either Siddaramaiah, G Parameshwara or DK Shivakumar to be the chief minister.

A day before the vote, Kumaraswamy appealed to rebel MLAs to return and "expose" the BJP during the debate in the House, but they ruled out attending the session.

Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa exuded confidence that "tomorrow will be the last day of the Kumaraswamy government" and said the Chief Minister was just trying to buy time.