Calling the Supreme Court verdict in MLA disqualification case as a moral victory for rebel legislators, Karnataka Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said that the ruling upheld that the Speaker does not have the power to extend the defection and disqualification to the full term.
"The Supreme Court has given the most lawful judgment to uphold the law. We have been arguing that the Speaker does not have the power to extend the defection and disqualification to the full term. Schedule X of the Constitution does not provide that and it is now upheld by the Supreme Court," he told reporters here.
"The permission to allow them to contest is a moral victory of all 17 MLAs. Now BJP is ready to face election. We are prepared and will seek people's mandate. We will win most seats going to polls," Bommai added.
After their disqualification, the strength of the 224-member Assembly had come down to 207. This had brought down the majority mark to 104. The BJP, which helms the government in the state, has 106 MLAs in the Assembly.
When asked about the government's future after the by-elections, Bommai said, "We will win more than the required mark. The comfortable majority will be there. Yediyurappa's leadership will complete the term."
The elections for 15 out of 17 seats are slated to be held on December 5 since the poll body had withheld the elections for two seats -- Maski and Rajarajeshwari -- as the petitions against these Assembly constituencies are pending in the Karnataka High Court.
Earlier in the day, the Apex Court upheld the decision K R Ramesh Kumar to disqualify 17 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs under the anti-defection law and 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 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.
( With inputs from ANI )