Karnataka Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar on Monday accepted the resignation of Dr Umesh Jadhav, the MLA of Chincholi in Kalaburgi district. Ramesh Kumar’s decision comes nearly a month after Jadhav submitted his resignation.
Congress sources say that the Congress Legislative Party leaders wanted Ramesh Kumar to stall the process of accepting Jadhav’s resignation as it would pose as an impediment to him for contesting on a BJP ticket. “Since he would technically be an MLA, even if he ended up winning, it would mean he would have to wait for his resignation to be accepted before he could take up office as an MP. This was the plan but now the Speaker has accepted his resignation,” the Congress source said.
Umesh Jadhav won the Assembly elections from the Chincholi segment twice on a Congress ticket. After defecting to BJP, He is now set to contest against Congress heavyweight and the current leader of the party in Lok Sabha Malikarjun Kharge from the Kalburgi constituency.
In his statement, Speaker Ramesh Kumar on Monday said that Umesh Jadhav’s reasons for wanting to resign as the Chincholi MLA did not match the reasons listed by the Congress Legislative Party. Earlier in February, the Congress Legislative Party had requested Speaker Ramesh Kumar to disqualify Umesh Jadhav along with three other Congress MLAs for indulging in anti-party activities.
The CLP had quoted the anti-defection law and alleged that MLAs Umesh Jadhav, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumatahalli and B Nagendra had accepted monetary favours from BJP leaders and had decided to quit the party. The Congress top brass in the state had also alleged that the four rebel MLAs had not appeared for the CLP meeting despite a whip being issued during the Budget session in February.
“The reason Umesh Jadhav mentioned in his resignation letter did not match the allegations made by the CLP leaders. I had requested him to submit a detailed response to several questions I had posed regarding his resignation letter,” Ramesh Kumar’s statement added.
Meanwhile, On March 25, several citizen groups and voters urged the Speaker to not accept Umesh Jadhav's resignation. “They requested me to ask Umesh Jadhav to stay on as the Chincholi MLA. However, it may be noted that it is extremely difficult to establish intent regarding the reasons for Umesh Jadhav submitting his resignation. However, according to rule number 202 of the Vidhana Sabha Rules, I hereby accept Umesh Jadhav's resignation,” the Speaker’s statement reads.
Rule 202 says the Speaker can accept the resignation of an MLA if he/she submits his/her resignation in person without citing any reason, given that there is no reason to believe that the resignation is not voluntary or genuine.
On March 6, Jadhav joined the BJP in the presence of the party's state President BS Yeddyurappa ahead of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Kalaburgi.
Umesh Jadhav v/s Mallikarjun Kharge
The rivalry between the Umesh Jadhav and Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge is not new. Miffed at not bagging a ministerial berth, Umesh Jadhav had made his displeasure known on many occasions. In 2013, Jadhav was an aspirant for a minister post. He has expressed his displeasure when Mallikarjun Kharge’s son, Priyank Kharge, a first-time MLA, was inducted into the cabinet by the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Similarly, when the Congress and JD(S) forged a coalition, Umesh Jadhav had wanted a ministerial berth. CM HD Kumaraswamy, however, did not induct Umesh into his cabinet whilst Priyank was given the post of Social Welfare Minister.
Umesh Jadhav has also alleged that funds and development work for his constituency were blocked at the behest of the Kharges.
Umesh Jadhav was one of the Congress legislators, who had been shipped to Renaissance Hotel in Mumbai during the BJP's Operation Lotus earlier in February. Jadhav’s trip to Mumbai was widely seen as a part of two-day CM BS Yeddyurappa’s plot to bring down the coalition by poaching Congress legislators. However, the alliance managed to keep its flock together except for Jadhav.