Karnataka Bypolls Deferred Till Supreme Court Decides On Disqualified MLAs

The 15 constituencies out of which 12 were won by the Congress and three by its former ruling partner Janata Dal Secular was supposed to vote on October 21 along with Maharashtra and Haryana and on some seats of other states.

Senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), B.S. Yediyurappa (C), flashes the victory sign to his supporters and party workers prior to his swearing for the fourth time as the Karnataka Chief Minister on July 26, 2019, three days after H.D. Kumaraswamy-led-JD(S)-Congress coalition government failed a floor test in the state legislative assembly. (Photo by Manjunath KIRAN / AFP)

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it would defer the upcoming by-polls to 15 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka. The bypolls were scheduled for October 21, with the counting of votes to be held three days later. The statement by EC's council came after a 3-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana said that it would decide on the batch of petitions filed by 17 disqualified MLAs of Karnataka challenging the order of former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar disqualifying them from the House. After the bench, also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna and Krishna Murari, said that it would hear the matter completely and decide it, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the poll panel, said: "Then I will ask the Election Commission to defer it (by-polls for 15 Assembly seats in Karnataka) for sometime". When the bench asked Dwivedi as to whether his statement should be recorded in the order, the senior lawyer said, "We will do it". The lawyers appearing for the disqualified MLAs, Congress leader Siddaramaiah and other respondents said, they have no objection if the by-polls are deferred. The top court said it would continue with the hearing in the case on October 22. The 15 constituencies out of which 12 were won by the Congress and three by its former ruling partner Janata Dal Secular was supposed to vote on October 21 along with Maharashtra and Haryana and on some seats of other states. The newly-formed BJP government has 105 MLAs in the 225-member Assembly, including the Speaker. It is eight short of a simple majority. On the other hand, the Congress has 65 legislators, sans 14 disqualified MLAs, and the JDS 34, minus three disqualified members. BS Yediyurappa is the chief minister of the state. (With additional information from PTI)