Karnataka slug-fest in SC: Hearing of Congress-JD(S) plea resumes today
New Delhi, May 18 (IBNS): A day after BS Yeddyurappa controversially took oath as the Karnataka Chief Minister, the Supreme Court on Friday resumed hearing of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular)'s plea against Governor Vajubhai Vala's invitation to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a minority government in the state.
Despite the formation of the government in the state, Karnataka is in dire political crisis since the single largest party, BJP, is yet to touch the majority mark of 113.
A three-judge bench comprising Justices AK Sikri, A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan is hearing the case.
Ex-Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi is defending the BJP and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is advocating the union government in the case, report said.
Congress' senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Abhishek Singhvi, is leading the Congress and the JD(S) in the legal battle in the top court.
The Congress and the JD(S) knocked the door of the Supreme Court on Wednesday night immediately after the Governor's invitation to Yeddyurappa to take oath as the CM.
However, after a three-hour long hearing in the midnight drama, the top court had refused to stay the swearing-in ceremony, which was held on Thursday.
Though not staying the oath-taking ceremony, the top court has asked Yeddyurappa to submit the letter of supports from all MLAs to the court on Friday.
The Governor has triggered a row after granting 15 days to the BJP to prove majority, an action which has been termed by Singhvi in the court as an invitation to horsetrading.
To prevent any defection, the Congress had earlier parked all its elected MLAs at a resort near Bengaluru and then again shifted to a hotel in Hyderabad on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, two elected Congress MLAs are missing that led to the suspicion of a possible defection.
The legal battle has a genesis in the fractured mandate meted out by the Karnataka people in the recently concluded assembly polls.
The Congress and JD(S), which had won 78 and 38 seats respectively, had united after the poll results to keep the BJP out of power.
With 104 seats, the BJP might look helpless to prove majority but the saffron brigade and its top leadership are exuding confidence in touching the magic figure.
At this juncture, the Congress and the JD(S) accused the BJP of a possible horsetrading to return to power after a gap of five years in the state.
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