Bengaluru, October 23, 2025 – In a display of legislative maneuvering that exposed the fragility yet resilience of Karnataka's ruling Congress coalition, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah deftly survived a no-confidence motion tabled by the opposition BJP against his government, centered on chronic delays in the implementation of flagship welfare guarantee schemes. The motion, moved amid raucous disruptions and a dramatic BJP walkout, collapsed after Speaker UT Khader ruled it "inadmissible" due to procedural lapses, leaving the opposition's high-decibel campaign in tatters and bolstering Siddaramaiah's position just as internal party frictions over the same schemes threaten to erupt.
The drama unfolded in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly during the ongoing winter session, where BJP MLAs, led by Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka, stormed the well of the House waving placards emblazoned with "Guarantee Ghotala" (Guarantee Scam) and "Siddaramaiah Hatao" (Remove Siddaramaiah). The no-trust motion, formally introduced under Rule 268, accused the Congress dispensation of "betraying" its five pre-poll guarantees – including free electricity under Gruha Jyothi, monthly cash transfers via Gruha Lakshmi, and unemployment doles through Yuva Nidhi – by delaying payouts to over 2.5 crore beneficiaries for up to four months in drought-ravaged districts. "This isn't governance; it's a grand betrayal. Farmers in Raichur and Kalaburagi wait for Anna Bhagya rice while ministers feast on scheme funds," Ashoka thundered in his two-hour tirade, brandishing a sheaf of "leaked" audit reports claiming ₹3,000 crore in misallocated welfare budgets diverted to infrastructure pet projects.
Siddaramaiah, flanked by a phalanx of loyalists including Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, responded with measured defiance from the treasury benches. "The BJP's motion is a political gimmick to derail our transformative agenda. We've already transferred ₹1.5 lakh crore since 2023 – more than any government in history – despite Centre's ₹1.2 lakh crore shortfall in devolution," the septuagenarian CM retorted, his voice steady as allies from the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) and independents nodded in unison. Crucially, the motion's fate hinged on the Speaker's intervention: Khader, after a 45-minute adjournment for consultations, declared it "defective" for lacking the mandatory 10% MLA signatures (only 62 of the required 68 were verified) and failing to specify "grave misconduct" beyond "policy delays." The ruling, decried by BJP as "Congress's rubber-stamp justice," prompted an immediate walkout by all 66 saffron MLAs, who regrouped outside Vidhana Soudha for a media briefing vowing "street agitations" starting November.
The episode underscores the high-wire act Siddaramaiah is performing amid a perfect storm of fiscal pressures and party infighting. The guarantee schemes, pivotal to Congress's 2023 Assembly poll sweep that ousted the BJP-JD(S) combine, have come under fire for implementation glitches: A state finance department memo from September revealed a ₹8,500 crore arrears pile-up, exacerbated by GST compensation shortfalls and erratic Aadhaar seeding in beneficiary databases. Internal dissent, simmering since a contentious CLP meeting last week where MLAs like RV Deshpande lambasted "lottery-like" disbursals, was momentarily quelled by Shivakumar's behind-the-scenes arm-twisting of fence-sitters. "Our alliance is rock-solid; the BJP's antics only unite us further," Shivakumar told reporters post-adjournment, subtly signaling his own ambitions while projecting fealty to the CM.
Analysts view the BJP's gambit as a calculated escalation in its bid to reclaim narrative dominance ahead of the 2028 polls and upcoming BBMP elections. "With Lok Sabha seats slipping away in 2024, the BJP is weaponizing welfare woes to peel off Congress's OBC and women base," noted political scientist Sandeep Shastri of Jain University. Yet, the walkout's failure – the third such opposition misfire this session – exposes tactical overreach, as JD(S) supremo HD Kumaraswamy, whose 19 MLAs provide the coalition's razor-thin majority of 136 in the 224-member House, reaffirmed support: "Stability first; guarantees will be delivered by Diwali's end."
As the assembly limps toward adjournment on October 25, with pending bills on irrigation reforms stalled by the ruckus, Siddaramaiah's survival offers a breather. The CM announced an emergency cabinet meeting to fast-track ₹2,000 crore in pending payouts and a "guarantee audit" by an independent panel, aiming to preempt further revolts. Outside, BJP workers clashed briefly with police during a protest march to Raj Bhavan, underscoring the powder-keg tensions. In Karnataka's fractious polity, today's reprieve may be tomorrow's reckoning – but for now, the wily veteran holds the fort, his guarantees intact if somewhat tardy.
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