Horatti quits after govt threatens no confidence motion

The Karnataka Legislative Council chairman, Basavaraj Horatti, resigned on Friday after the Congress government told him it would seek his removal through a no confidence motion if he refused to step aside, clearing the way for the ruling party to take control of the Upper House

The Karnataka Legislative Council chairman, Basavaraj Horatti, resigned on Friday after the Congress government told him it would seek his removal through a no confidence motion if he refused to step aside, clearing the way for the ruling party to take control of the Upper House.

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Horatti said the Congress government had put him under pressure to leave and had warned that it would move a no confidence motion against him if he refused. He resigned after meeting chief minister DK Shivakumar on Friday.

“I was asked to resign, so I tendered my resignation,” Horatti said after the meeting. He added that he did not know why he had been asked to step down.

The chief minister’s office said Horatti’s resignation had been accepted and that Shivakumar had written to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot recommending that Horatti will remain in the chair until an alternative arrangement was made.

The chief minister said Horatti had chosen to resign in view of the current political developments and praised him for the manner in which he handled the transition. “Basavaraj Horatti has shown his magnanimity. It is commendable,” Shivakumar said, adding that Horatti was one of the senior most leaders in the history of legislative councils in the country.

Shivakumar said the new deputy chairperson and chairperson would be elected on August 14, a day after the Karnataka legislature’s monsoon session begins.

Shivakumar said Horatti wanted to oversee the appointment of the Council’s chairperson and deputy chairperson before thanking members and leaving the post, and that the government had agreed to respect his wishes.

Horatti’s resignation came less than a week before the session begins on August 13. Congress has nominated senior lawmaker Saleem Ahmed for the chairperson’s post and former minister Umashree for deputy chairperson.

Congress now has a majority in the 75 member Legislative Council. There had been several rounds of discussions between Horatti and Shivakumar before the resignation, with the government seeking to avoid no confidence motion.

Horatti had said on Thursday that Shivakumar told him the Congress high command had directed him to resign and that the ruling party would move a no confidence motion if he declined.

“The ruling party wants me to resign. The CM spoke to me twice over the phone. On Wednesday, he called me for a personal meeting and told me that the Congress high command had directed him to ask me to quit. He said that if I didn’t resign, they would move a no-confidence motion against me,” Horatti had said.

Shivakumar, however, said the question of a no confidence motion no longer arose after an agreement had been reached and Horatti had submitted his resignation. “Once we have reached an agreement, what is the need for it? The no confidence motion is irrelevant. He has resigned now,” Shivakumar said.

Horatti is expected to continue presiding over the Council during the opening of the session on August 13 under the interim arrangement before the new leadership is elected on August 14.

The deputy chairperson’s post is currently vacant. MK Pranesh lost the position following a legal dispute over the counting of votes, while Congress leader AV Gayatri Shante Gowda was sworn in as a member of the Council by Horatti on Friday.

The BJP has objected to the manner in which Horatti was asked to leave and to his meeting with Shivakumar at the chief minister’s residence in Bengaluru.

Horatti dismissed the objection to the meeting. “I met the chief minister to thank him for co-operating for this long. I will conduct the House on August 13, appoint a deputy speaker and tender my resignation formally,” he said.

Horatti, an eight time MLC, has been a member of the Legislative Council for 46 years and has two years remaining in his current term. He was previously with the Janata Dal (Secular) and joined the BJP on May 18, 2022.