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Bengaluru: The tottering JD(S)-Congress government in Karnataka is set for another setback as the lone Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA has announced that he will not participate in the floor test against the coalition Monday.

N. Mahesh, the BSP MLA from Kollegal in Mysuru, has confirmed to The Print that he has been asked to abstain from voting by his party supremo Mayawati.

“Behenji (Mayawati) has directed me not to participate in the trust vote,” Mahesh said. “I cannot comment on whether I am withdrawing support from the coalition right now. We will decide on what to do after the procedure is complete.”

Mahesh had served as a minister in the Kumaraswamy government but resigned in October 2018 after the Congress and the BSP could not settle on a seat-sharing agreement during assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

His latest announcement that he will abstain from voting is being seen as a fallout of the recent split in the alliance between the BSP and the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh.

Also read: Can Karnataka MLAs be barred for skipping trust vote in line with SC order? Experts split

Did not attend the debate on the no-confidence motion

Mahesh was among the 20 legislators, which includes Congress and JD(S) defectors, who did not attend the debate on the confidence motion, moved by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, which was held Thursday and Friday.

He had told the media that he was unable to attend the session as he had personal work in his constituency. Mahesh is an MLA from Kollegal and the state president of the BSP. The former bureaucrat won the seat in his fourth attempt and has been with loyal to Mayawati’s party for the last 25 years.

Sources in the BSP said that the party is likely to align with the BJP in Karnataka.

Also read: This nominated Anglo-Indian MLA could save Kumaraswamy govt in Karnataka trust vote

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