Karnataka floor test updates: HD Kumaraswamy wins trust vote, BJP walks out of state Assembly

Karnataka floor test latest updates: HD Kumaraswamy has won the trust vote by voice vote.

The BJP has staged a walkout from the Karnataka Assembly.

Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy has moved the motion of confidence on the floor of the House. Speaking ahead of the trust vote, Kumaraswamy said that his decision to enter into an alliance with the Congress was taken for the future of JD(S), reported The Hindu. "My family has not hankered for power. We have worked for maintaining secular identity. Today, people should not feel that I joined hands with Congress because I wanted to become the Chief Minister. I took the decision for the future of my party," he said.

In his maiden speech as the chief minister, HD Kumaraswamy said: "As leader of the House, I have the opportunity today. We are happy that you (KR Ramesh Kumar) were unanimously elected as speaker of the House. When Siddaramaiah proposed your name and filed the nomination yesterday, I should have been present too." Other leaders, including BJP's BS Yeddyurappa, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and Congress Legislature Party chief Siddaramaiah.

Congress' KR Ramesh Kumar was elected as the Speaker of the House after the BJP withdrew S Suresh Kumar's candidature for the Speaker's post.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the trust vote, outside the Vidhana Soudha, Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy said: "We will see that the government continues for five years. We promise good governance." The Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly is set to be elected first before the trust vote takes place.

Ahead of the crucial trust vote at 12.15 pm on Friday, Congress MLAs reached the Vidhana Soudha in buses from the Hilton Embassy Golflinks at Domlur, Bengaluru. Meanwhile, according to CNN-News18, JD(S) MLAs arrived in a bus at Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's residence in Bengaluru on Friday morning. The JD(S) lawmakers were lodged at the Prestige Golfshire Resort off Devanahalli on the outskirts of the city.

Ahead of the trust vote at noon, HD Kumaraswamy told reporters outside his Bengaluru residence on Friday, that he was sure he was going to win. "I have no tension. I'm going to win clearly," he said.

Both the parties have issued whips to their respective lawmakers to vote in favour of the motion when put to vote.

"We have asked all our MLAs to stay together in the city for one more day to ensure their presence in the Assembly to avoid cross-voting or abstention during crucial voting on the confidence motion," a Congress official told IANS in Bengaluru.

Cloistered at a luxurious resort and hotel for the last nine days since political turmoil hit the state, the Congress and JD(S) lawmakers are cooling their heels away from their families and eagerly waiting for their ordeal to end. The lawmakers of the Congress are currently lodged at Hilton Embassy Golflinks at Domlur, reported while JD(S) MLAs are staying at Prestige Golfshire Resort off Devanahalli on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The MLAs are expected to remain at the resort and hotel till the trust vote begins.

File image of HD Kumaraswamy. AP

As Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy braces for a floor test on Friday, the special Assembly session is expected to begin around noon after the election of a new Speaker. While the JD(S)-Congress alliance has nominated Congress leader Ramesh Kumar while BJP has fielded five-time MLA S Suresh Kumar.

Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy will face a floor test on Friday which he is widely expected to sail through, barring any unforeseeable events, ending the 10-day political uncertainty in the state.

The 58-year-old Kumaraswamy, who was sworn-in at a grand assembly of leaders of non-BJP parties on Wednesday, looks sitting pretty given the strength of the JD(S)-Congress-BSP coalition in the House.

While the Congress has 78 MLAs, Kumaraswamy's JD(S) has 36, and BSP 1. The alliance has also claimed support of the lone KPJP MLA and an independent. Kumaraswamy had won from two constituencies.

BJP's BS Yeddyurappa, who was sworn-in as the chief minister on 17 May, had stepped down two days later in the face of imminent defeat without going through the motions of a floor test.

The 224-member Assembly has an effective strength of 221, as election for Jayanagar seat was countermanded following the death of the BJP candidate, and deferred in RR Nagar over allegations of electoral malpractices.

After taking oath, Kumaraswamy had voiced confidence about winning the floor test, but said he had an apprehension that the BJP would try to repeat "Operation Kamala" to bring down his government.

The term "Operation Kamala" or "Operation Lotus" was coined in 2008, when the BJP state chief BS Yeddyurappa took over as the chief minister. The party was short of three MLAs for a simple majority.

As part of "Operation Kamala", named after the BJP's election symbol lotus, some Congress and JD(S) MLAs were persuaded to join the saffron party, relinquish their membership of the Assembly, and re-contest elections. Their resignations brought down the numbers required for a victory during the trust vote, which Yeddyurappa won.

Unfazed by Yeddyurappa's unceremonious exit, the BJP on Thursday fielded its senior leader S Suresh Kumar, a fifth term MLA, for the post of the Speaker whose election will precede the trust vote.

Ramesh Kumar of Congress too filed his nomination for the post as the candidate of the ruling coalition.

"Based on the strength of numbers and various other factors, our party leaders have confidence that I will win. With that confidence I have filed my nomination," the BJP candidate said, indicating that the saffron party was keen on giving the JD(S)-Congress alliance a run for its money.

The BJP is the single largest party in the Assembly with 104 MLAs.

When asked about his chances of winning, the BJP nominee said, "I have filed my nomination. There is election tomorrow at 12:15 pm. After the election you will get to know."

Congress Legislature Party leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah exuded confidence about the coalition candidate's victory.

"I got to know that the BJP has also filed nomination. I hope they will withdraw. If election happens, Ramesh Kumar's victory is certain," he said.

Though Kumaraswamy will likely have a smooth sailing during the confidence vote, expanding the Cabinet may be a tough call for him.

Senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar, who was widely credited with having kept the flock of party MLAs together amid claims of attempted poaching by the BJP, is reportedly not happy after being ignored for the deputy chief minister's post that went to the party's Dalit face G Parameshwara.

"Is it the same for those who win one seat and those who win the state? I have not come to politics to take sanyas. I will play chess not football," Shivakumar had said.

In an indication of irritants Kumaraswamy will likely face, Parameshwara said on Thursday the coalition was yet to discuss the tenure of the JD(S) leader as the chief minister.

"We have not yet discussed those modalities," he said in response to a question about whether Kumaraswamy will be the chief minister for full five years.

"We are also yet to decide on what portfolios have to go to them and what should be with us....then five-year term, whether they should be or we should also," he said.

With inputs from PTI