The Supreme Court’s order, which gives relief to 15 dissident Congress and JD(S) MLAs from participating in the trust motion in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, may have made the collapse of the 14-month-old coalition government imminent.
This will be the third motion on trust vote moved in the Assembly after the fractured mandate in the 2018 elections. The ruling coalition can count on 100 MLAs against the 107 reportedly commanded by the Opposition BJP. The Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy-headed government has seen 13 Congress and 3 JD(S) MLAs submit resignation letters to the Speaker, while two Independents, who quit the Ministry, too have withdrawn support to the government.
The BJP had made at least half a dozen attempts earlier to topple the coalition by luring ruling party MLAs, but this time it seems confident of crossing the finish line.