Mayawati expels lone Karnataka MLA for not appearing in floor test

On Sunday, the BSP had asked Mahesh to be present in Vidhan Soudha on the day of voting and support the Kumaraswamy government.

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Mayawati expelled N Mahesh for not following party high command’s order. (File)

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati Tuesday expelled party’s lone MLA in Karnataka N Mahesh for not appearing in support of Congress-JD(S) government in the floor test in the State Assembly.

Taking to Twitter, Mayawati said, “BSP legislator N Mahesh remained absent during the trust vote in Karnataka, thus violating party high command’s direction to vote in favour of Kumaraswamy government. The party has taken this indiscipline seriously and has thus decided to expel Mr Mahesh from the party with immediate effect.” Follow LIVE Updates here

The H D Kumaraswamy-led Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka lost the floor test, getting only 99 votes while the BJP secured 105 votes from the members. The trust vote was necessitated after 15 MLAs resigned, plunging the government to a minority. The BJP needs eight more members in the 224-seat Karnataka Assembly to stake claim for government formation.

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On Sunday, the BSP had asked Mahesh to be present in Vidhan Soudha on the day of voting and support the Kumaraswamy government. However, there was news before that the party high command had initially asked him to abstain from voting.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala has accepted the resignations of the 15 MLAs who had left the Congress-JD(S) faction alleging lack of stability in the coalition.

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