Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court's judgement regarding the disqualification of 17 MLAs in Karnataka and said that state Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has lost the moral right to continue in his post.
In a series of tweets, Venugopal said, "We welcome the Supreme Court judgement in the Karnataka disqualification matter which vindicated INCs stand. It is a tight slap to the power hungry BJP who orchestrated the political horse trading. Now will the @BJP4India humiliate themselves by giving tickets to disqualified MLAs?"
Venugopal further stated that President Ram Nath Kovind and the central government should take immediate steps to dissolve the BJP-led government in Karnataka.
"After the Supreme Court judgment, BS Yediyurappa has lost moral right to continue in his post. President of India and Government of India must take immediate steps to dissolve the BJP government in Karnataka formed by horse trading and illegal practices," Venugopal tweeted.
"It is necessary for a better democracy to undo the naked contradiction that an MLA disqualified under the Anti-Defection Law is able contest election again," he added.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the decision of the then Karnataka speaker K R Ramesh Kumar to disqualify 17 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs under the anti-defection law but said that they can contest the upcoming by-elections in the state.
The rebel legislators were disqualified by the then speaker K R Ramesh Kumar in July earlier this year under the anti-defection law after they tendered their resignation. They were also barred from contesting polls for the duration of the current assembly, which is slated to end in 2023.
The move had led to fall of the Congress-JD (S) coalition government, paving way for BJP to stake claim to form a new government in the state. The disgruntled MLAs then moved the apex court challenging their disqualification. They sought quashing of the order passed by the speaker and prohibition imposed on them to contest elections. The matter was reserved by the court on October 25.
The elections for 15 out of 17 seats are slated to be held on December 5.
( With inputs from ANI )