New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed a floor test Saturday to ascertain the support to Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa in the 224-member Assembly and barred him from taking any policy decisions till then.
A bench of Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan Friday directed that the floor test be held at 4pm and that the Pro-Tem Speaker, the seniormost member of the Assembly, would administer the newly-elected members their oath and then conduct the floor test.
The court also rejected Yeddyurappa’s plea, made through senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, asking for a week’s time to face the floor test. It further went on to junkAttorney General KK Venugopal’s suggestion that the floor test be conducted through secret ballot. The apex court then directed the Karnataka Director General of Police to personally ensure the security of the newly-elected lawmakers.
In a historic pre-dawn hearing, the top court had Thursday cleared the way for the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister of Karnataka after the Congress-JD(S) combine approached the court raising objections.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was also the BJP’s Karnataka poll in-charge, has expressed confidence that the Yeddyurappa government will prove its majority in the Assembly Saturday. “BJP is ready and confident of winning trust vote in Karnataka,” he tweeted.
Bopaiah Pro-Tem Speaker
Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala Friday appointed BJP legislator KG Bopaiah as Karnataka Assembly’s Pro-Tem Speaker to administer oath to all newly elected legislators Saturday ahead of the floor test directed by the Supreme Court, a party official said. “The Governor appointed and administered the oath to Bopaiah as the Pro-Tem Speaker at the Raj Bhavan,” BJP Spokesman Vamanacharya said. Bopaiah, 62, is a three-time legislator from Virajpet seat in Kodagu region, 260 km from Bengaluru. His appointment came even as the Congress and JD(S) coalition was seeking appointment of RV Deshpande as the interim speaker on account of his seniority in the Assembly.
Cong, JD(S) MLAs reach Hyderabad
Hyderabad: While the struggle for power in Karnataka raged on in that state, newly-elected JD(S) and Congress MLAs travelled to neighbouring Telangana and were seen at the state capital Friday. They were expected to be lodged in five-star hotels or resorts in the city, party sources said. However, no sooner did they land in Hyderabad, the MLAs had to also start making return plans to Bengaluru with Supreme Court directing a floor test in the Assembly at 4 pm Saturday. As many as 116 MLAs were in Hyderabad and they tried to show that all of them were united and that they would win the floor test in the Assembly.
