Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa won the trust vote comfortably today (Monday, July 29) after a turbulent three weeks during which 17 MLAs of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition resigned their seats, reducing their 14-month old government led by HD Kumaraswamy to a minority.

The Speaker also resigned his post after the trust vote today. “Sometimes we have had to take some harsh decision, we are small people. We should try and not disrespect the chair that we sit on… People come and go, chief Ministers come and go, be good and do good,” Speaker KR Ramesh said before he resigned.

The Speaker had Sunday disqualified 11 Congress and three JD(S) rebel MLAs under the anti-defection law, thus ending their hopes of being inducted into the BJP government. He had disqualified three others earlier. 

 “The way I am being pressurised mentally as Speaker to deal with all these things, I am pushed into a sea of depression,” the Speaker had said after announcing the disqualification of the rebels yesterday.

The decision brought down the strength of the Assembly, reducing the majority mark in the assembly to pave the way for the newly formed BJP government to win the trust vote smoothly today.

Yediyurappa – who became Chief Minister for the fourth time – said he would not indulge in “politics of vengeance” as he believed in the “forget and forgive” principle. The Congress and the JDS have accused the BJP of horse-trading — an allegation the party has denied.

Ahead of the trust vote, Yediyurappa,  said he was given the chance to be back in this seat “for a special reason”. 

“If you think that we took a decision that will affect the people in a bad way, you can reach out to us,” he added. The 76-year-old had started the day with prayers at a temple in Bengaluru. A superstitious man, he has reverted to the earlier English spelling of his name “Yediyurappa” instead of “Yeddyurappa” apparently influenced by numerology.

The change became public on July 26 in his letter to Governor Vajubhai Vala, staking claim to form the government, and later, in the official invitation for the swearing-in ceremony of the BJP leader as Karnataka Chief Minister.

The short debate on the trust motion saw sharp exchange of barbs. JD(S) leader and ousted CM HD Kumaraswamy said: “All that has happened with the rebels, with power – all this will go down in history… The rebels have been brought to the streets. They had special flight last time, (this time) I hear that they are getting normal flights.”

Congress leader Siddaramaiah attacked Yediyurappa calling the BJP government “immoral.”

“You have no mandate of the people,” Siddaramaiah told Yediyurappa. “Where is the mandate in your favour … where is the majority … Yediyurappa has become the chief minister with just 105 members,” Siddaramaiah said.

“Let us see how long you will be (the chief minister). … I want you to be (CM) for the full term but I don’t think you will be able to complete it (the term),” Siddaramaiah told Yediyurappa.

“Unfortunately, Yediyurappa has never been CM with people’s mandate. Where’s the mandate? You didn’t have it in 2008, 2018 or even now. When he took oath, there were 222 MLAs in House, where did BJP have 112 MLAs for majority? They had 105 seats. That is not mandate,” the Congress leader remarked.

Earlier, while moving the confidence motion, Yediyurappa said, “My becoming the chief minister is according to expectations of the people.”

He also vowed not to indulge in vendetta politics and said, “I will not indulge in politics of vengeance. I believe in the forget and forgive principle.”

Yediyurappa’s one-line motion that the House expresses confidence in the ministry headed by him was passed with a voice vote. He said the administrative machinery had collapsed and his priority was to bring it back on track.

The move brought down the strength of the House to 208, and the majority mark to 105 – the number which BJP has in the Assembly. The coalition could scrape up only 99 votes against the BJP’s 105.

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As the numbers game favoured the BJP government in trust vote today, the Congress and JDS did not press for division on the one-line motion moved by Yediyurappa. The House expressed confidence in his three-day-old Ministry. Since the house did not press for division, Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar declared that the motion had been passed by a voice vote.

Yediyurappa had said he was confident of proving majority in the house. “On Monday, I will prove my majority 100%,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.

All the lawmakers have been disqualified from the assembly till the end of its term, which calls for by-elections in all 16 constituencies. The disqualified lawmakers said they would challenge the Speaker’s decision in the Supreme Court today.

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The BJP moved swiftly after the Speaker disqualified three lawmakers on Thursday, staking claim to form government and pushing for a trust vote today. State BJP chief BS Yediyurappa took charge of the government as the Chief Minister for the fourth time on Friday.