Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy wins floor test in Karnataka Assembly

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday won the trust vote in the Karnataka assembly shortly after he moved the moved the motion of confidence.

117 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) voted in his favour enabling the JD(S)-Congress alliance to cross the simple majority mark of 112 seats.

Moving the trust vote, hethanked Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun M Kharge, who he saidwere the first to call him to join hands. He also said his father, former PM H D Deve Gowda, had said if Ijoined hands with the BJP, the entire family would disown him.

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The BJP walked out of the Karnataka assembly ahead of the floor test after its leader BS Yeddyurappa said that the party will hold a state-wide bandh on May 28, if CM Kumaraswamy doesn’t waive off farmer loans.

In the recently concluded state assembly election, though the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats (only eight seats short of the simple majority mark of 112), the Congress party with 78 seats and JD(S) with 37 seats, along with two independent candidates, stitched up a post-poll alliance which has a total of 117 MLAs.

Even though the Karnataka Governor invited the BJP to form the government with a time period of 15 days to prove their majority on the floor of the house, the Supreme Court in an interim order directed the floor test to be held in just two days, even after Yeddyurappa had taken oath as the Chief Minister of the state.

What followed post the game-changing Karnata Polls verdict was the shifting of MLAs from one resort to another in order to prevent horse-trading.

However, unable to garner the required number of votes to form Government in the state, Yeddyurappa resigned as the Chief Minister prior to the top court-ordered floor test, but accused the Congress of hijacking the `People`s Mandate`.

On May 23,Kumaraswamy was sworn-in as the 24th chief minister of Karnataka, marking the beginning of the JD(S)-Congress alliance in the state.

Unhappy with the sequence of events, the BJP observed the day as `Anti-People`s Mandate Day` in the state on the same date.

Confident of his win in the floor test, HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday informed that he has called for a meeting of the Finance Ministry official after the floor test in the state assembly, to take a decision on the state budget.

In a press briefing, the chief minister said he will fulfil all the promises made by the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S) in their manifesto.

New Speaker

Earlier, Congress MLAK R Ramesh Kumar was unanimously elected the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly, after BJP candidate S Suresh Kumar pulled out of the race, in a major victory for the JD(S)-Congress coalition before Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy faced the floor test.

Shortly before the start of the proceedings, Suresh Kumar said he was withdrawing his nomination following a direction from the BJP leadership.

"On the directions of our party, I had filed the nomination for the post of Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Now, after discussion in the party, it is felt that the Speaker has to be elected unanimously following the parliamentary traditions. I'm withdrawing my nomination," Suresh Kumar tweeted.

Suresh Kumar, a 5th term MLA from the city, had filed his papers yesterday, in an apparent indication by the BJP that it wanted to give the JD(S)-Congress coalition a run for its money in the race for speakership before Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy faced the floor test.

As the House met and pro-tem speaker K G Bopaiah took up the matter, BJP's Sunil Kumar stood up and said he was not moving the motion proposing Suresh Kumar for the Speaker's post. Suresh Kumar then said, "I accept it."

Ramesh Kumar's name was then proposed by the former chief minister and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah and seconded by Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara.

The motion was unanimously adopted by the House.

Chief Minister Kumaraswamy and BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa escorted Ramesh Kumar to the chair.