'Speaker forcing disqualification to allow Cong-JDS to rule' Confined in Mumbai, 10 rebel Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) legislators of the Karnataka Assembly, got former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to approach the Supreme Court on Thursday and set up a crucial hearing about their resignation before Friday, when the Assembly reconvenes. The high-voltage legal battle between the rebel MLAs, and the coalition government of Congress and JD(S), represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, will be keenly watched as much is at stake depending on whether the top court directs the Speaker to expeditiously decide their resignation plea. The bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi allowed the petition for hearing on Thursday. The rebel legislators stated in their petition that the decision about their resignation has been put on hold till Friday when the Speaker, KR Ramesh Kumar, will take up Congress's petition regarding their disqualification. It remains to be seen whether the Speaker allows the Congress-JD(S) boat to remain afloat, despite being in the minority. Claiming maladministration under the HD Kumaraswamy government, which has been rocked by the IMA ponzi scam and the JSW land scam, the legislators said that governance has come to a standstill. This was the chief reason for them to resign from the Karnataka Assembly on July 6. Currently, their resignation is pending with the Speaker, who too has been made a party in the petition by the legislators. "The MLAs, disenchanted with the mal-administration under the present dispensation, wish to resign. The same is their fundamental right to do as a citizen and as a public representative. The resignation was on the issue of principle and in public interest," the petition stated. They also blamed internal squabbling as another reason for their exit. Since Kumaraswamy took oath on May 25, 2018, the petitioners said, "The coalition has been rocked by inner contradictions and the Government has never remained stable. This was the reason why the coalition lost miserably in the Lok Sabha elections," the petition said. Based on pure arithmetic, the petitioners said that in a house of 244, "the government headed by Kumaraswamy has lost the majority, been reduced from 112 MLAs to 103. Fearing that the Chief Minister may have to resign following a trust vote, the Speaker is acting in a partisan manner to frustrate the will of the House, the legislators added. Under Rule 202 of the Karnataka Assembly Rules, the resigning MLAs need not give reasons. Unless there is an indication that the resignation is involuntary or given under fear, the Speaker has to decide on it immediately. Speaker Kumar was untraceable from July 6 to July 9, when he said the resignation was not in a "proper format" and sought a hearing with five MLAs on July 12. "The whole idea is to disqualify the petitioners and under that threat, allow the minority government to function," the rebel MLAs said. Remains Of The Day Renaissance hotel, where the MLAs were lodged, sees high drama Cong troubleshooter DK Shivakumar stopped from entering hotel despite making reservation The hotel cancels his booking, citing technical difficulties. Shivakumar stages Satyagraha Other Mumbai Congress leaders join him; Narayan Rane’s men shout slogans urging Shivakumar to go back to Karnataka All local Congress leaders detained and taken to Mumbai University hostel