BENGALURU: Faced with the formidable challenge of winning a majority of the assembly seats vacated by the 17 disqualified legislators in order to stay in power, the state BJP is a divided house over whether to face byelections or call for fresh assembly polls.
Bypolls are imminent after the MLAs — 14 from the Congress and three from JD(S) — resigned and were subsequently disqualified by former speaker KR Ramesh Kumar in July. The rule mandates bypolls within six months of a seat falling vacant.
And with BJP expecting at least five more opposition legislators to switch to the saffron party, it means the number of bypolls will only increase. This is why some leaders are arguing in favour of mid-term polls. Should they convince the party leadership, the state could see fresh elections in December or January.
With 105 legislators, the BJP must wrest at least nine seats from the opposition in the bypolls in order to secure a simple majority in the 224-member assembly. Considering most of these seats are strongholds of either the Congress or the JD(S), it will be a tall order.
The issue of mid-term polls was discussed in a recent core-committee meeting and on other forums of the party with many leaders suggesting that is not worth risking the stability of the government by calling for bypolls.
“Securing a clear majority in fresh polls is always better,” said tourism minister CT Ravi, a member of BJP’s core-committee. “We cannot provide stable and effective governance if we have to be obligated to someone else for the required numbers in the house. But, BS Yediyurappa’s tenure as CM is not negotiable for now.”
There are several seniors in the party who echo this view. Lehar Singh, senior BJP MLC, said, “With partyhoppers who have a long list of demands likely to join the government, governance becomes untenable.”
Most of the disqualified MLAs reportedly support the idea of mid-term polls. While their fate still hangs in the balance as their petition challenging their disqualification is pending in the Supreme Court, they feel their candidature as legitimate BJP members would be more helpful.
“If the court sets aside our disqualification, then we can become ministers immediately. Facing bypolls with a minister tag is always advantageous, otherwise fresh polls are better,” said a disqualified MLA .
BC Patil, a disqualified Congress MLA, said, “The hard fact is that we have to face elections even if our disqualification is set aside. So, it does not matter whether it is bypolls or mid-term polls.”
However, there are other MLAs who are not prepared for fresh elections. With back-to-back elections in two years — assembly polls in 2018 and parliamentary elections in 2019 — legislators are worried about resource mobilisation and are also jittery that they could face a backlash over the flood situation.
However, Union minister Pralhad Joshi, also a core committee member, said, “Legislators need not be worried as the party is not thinking of snap polls. Personally, I don’t think mid-term elections are necessary.”
Bypolls are imminent after the MLAs — 14 from the Congress and three from JD(S) — resigned and were subsequently disqualified by former speaker KR Ramesh Kumar in July. The rule mandates bypolls within six months of a seat falling vacant.
And with BJP expecting at least five more opposition legislators to switch to the saffron party, it means the number of bypolls will only increase. This is why some leaders are arguing in favour of mid-term polls. Should they convince the party leadership, the state could see fresh elections in December or January.
With 105 legislators, the BJP must wrest at least nine seats from the opposition in the bypolls in order to secure a simple majority in the 224-member assembly. Considering most of these seats are strongholds of either the Congress or the JD(S), it will be a tall order.
The issue of mid-term polls was discussed in a recent core-committee meeting and on other forums of the party with many leaders suggesting that is not worth risking the stability of the government by calling for bypolls.
“Securing a clear majority in fresh polls is always better,” said tourism minister CT Ravi, a member of BJP’s core-committee. “We cannot provide stable and effective governance if we have to be obligated to someone else for the required numbers in the house. But, BS Yediyurappa’s tenure as CM is not negotiable for now.”
There are several seniors in the party who echo this view. Lehar Singh, senior BJP MLC, said, “With partyhoppers who have a long list of demands likely to join the government, governance becomes untenable.”
Most of the disqualified MLAs reportedly support the idea of mid-term polls. While their fate still hangs in the balance as their petition challenging their disqualification is pending in the Supreme Court, they feel their candidature as legitimate BJP members would be more helpful.
“If the court sets aside our disqualification, then we can become ministers immediately. Facing bypolls with a minister tag is always advantageous, otherwise fresh polls are better,” said a disqualified MLA .
BC Patil, a disqualified Congress MLA, said, “The hard fact is that we have to face elections even if our disqualification is set aside. So, it does not matter whether it is bypolls or mid-term polls.”
However, there are other MLAs who are not prepared for fresh elections. With back-to-back elections in two years — assembly polls in 2018 and parliamentary elections in 2019 — legislators are worried about resource mobilisation and are also jittery that they could face a backlash over the flood situation.
However, Union minister Pralhad Joshi, also a core committee member, said, “Legislators need not be worried as the party is not thinking of snap polls. Personally, I don’t think mid-term elections are necessary.”
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