Congress-JD(S) Coalition Wins Trust Vote In Karnataka Assembly

Bengaluru: Putting an end to the political drama, Congress-JD(S) proved its majority during the floor test in the Karnataka Assembly on Friday.

Congress’ Ramesh Kumar was elected as the Speaker unopposed in the election for the post, which preceded the floor test.

The alliance won the trust motion by 117 votes shortly after BJP staged a walkout from the Assembly over the farmer’s loan waiver issue.

While Congress has 78 MLAs, JD(S) 37 seats. BJP, on the other hand has 104, seven short of the 111 majority mark. Two other seats were won by Independent candidates.

The floor test ended the 10-day political drama, which had seen vigorous political tussle for power by both the BJP and the Congress.

The Speakers’ election had yet again turned crucial after BJP decided to nominate S Suresh Kumar against Congress’ Ramesh Kumar. However, the party later withdrew the nomination to maintain ‘dignity’ of the post.

“We withdrew (nomination of BJP candidate) as we wanted the election to be unanimous in order to maintain dignity of the Speaker’s post,” BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa said in the Assembly.

HD Kumaraswamy was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka May 23 in a high-profile ceremony which was a kind of show of strength of the opposition parties across the country against the BJP.

BS Yeddyurappa, who was earlier sworn-in as the CM of Karnataka on May 17, had resigned two days later, just ahead of the floor test.

Though the floor test was expected to be a smooth sail, CM Kumaraswamy had voiced concern saying that BJP might try to poach its MLAs yet again. However, the Congress-JD(s) will have a tough road ahead on deciding the Cabinet and the Ministry allocation.