Mayawati suspends lone BSP MLA in Karnataka for skipping floor test

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday suspended the party's lone Karnataka MLA for indiscipline as he did not participate in the crucial trust vote in the state Assembly despite having clear instructions to vote in favour of the H.D. Kumaraswamy government.

"BSP MLA N. Mahesh, who was instructed to vote in favour of the Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka remained absent from the House during the trust vote which is a clear case of indiscipline and the party has taken it seriously. And thus Mahesh has been suspended from the party with immediate effect," Mayawati tweeted.

The BSP leader's remarks came soon after the beleaguered 14-month-old Congress-JD(S) government lost the trust vote on the floor of the state Assembly by six votes after a four-day debate on the confidence motion.

Of the 225-member Karnataka Assembly, 20 were not present in the House for the floor test. The coalition government in the state was facing a major crisis for the last two weeks following the resignation of 17 rebel MLAs.