"Lost Majority": Governor's Deadline To Karnataka Coalition For Trust Vote

"The fact that 15 members have met me and tendered their resignations and coupled with two members have withdrawn their support and other attendant circumstances do prima facie indicate that you have lost majority/confidence of the House," the governor wrote to the chief minister. His letter also said the House was adjourned without reaching any finality and "this cannot go on in a Democratic set up governed by the Constitution of India."

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy moved the motion for a trust vote and, in his speech, accused the BJP of trying to put hurdles before his government. As the BJP's BS Yeddyurappa, a former chief minister, demanded a quick vote, the Chief Minister retorted: "The Leader of Opposition seems to be in a hurry."

Much of the day was taken up by protests by the Congress over Shrimant Patil, who slipped out of a resort where the party's lawmakers were staying and surfaced in a hospital in Mumbai.

The Congress alleged that Shrimant Patil had been lured by the BJP to Mumbai, which has been the base of rebel lawmakers who quit the ruling coalition on July 6. The Speaker demanded a report on the "runaway" lawmaker from State Home Minister MB Patil.

During the trust vote debate, Congress and JDS lawmakers raised several issues, including the status of the rebel lawmakers and whether they can be disqualified for defying a whip to attend the assembly.

In a fiery speech, Congress troubleshooter DK Shivakumar, accused the BJP of "kidnapping" his party lawmakers. "I have got calls from family members that they have been kidnapped," he said.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court left it to the speaker to decide on the resignations of the rebel lawmakers. At the same time, the court said they cannot be forced to attend the assembly, which blunts the threat of disqualification.

Armed with the Supreme Court order, the rebel lawmakers camping in Mumbai said there was no question of stepping back on their resignations or attending the session. Later in the evening, however, Congress's Ramalinga Reddy said he would withdraw his resignation.

Sixteen legislators - 13 from the Congress and three from JDS - have resigned in the last two weeks, while two independent legislators have withdrawn their support to the coalition government.

The ruling coalition's strength in the 224-member assembly was 118 before the crisis unfolded. With the support of the two independents, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators. If the resignations of the 15 legislators who approached the Supreme Court are accepted, the ruling coalition's tally will plummet to 101 (if Ramalinga Reddy takes back his resignation), reducing the 13 month-old Kumaraswamy government to a minority.