 "Karnataka floor test: Congress-JDS submit 7 point pushback to KG Bopaiah appointment; SC hearing at 10:30 am")
A three judge bench of the Supreme Court has set a 10:30 am hearing Saturday for the Congress-JD(S) challenge to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala’s appointment of MLA KG Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker to oversee the crucial floor test in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly scheduled for the same day at 4 pm.
The Congress and JD(S) have listed seven main asks in their petition Friday night. Primary among them: Setting aside the appointment of the current pro tem speaker KG Bopaiah and replacing him with the “senior most” MLA in the Assembly. Dividing up the MLAs on the basis of their alignment to the triage of parties involved and video recording of the floor test are other requests that detail the Congress JD(S) petition.
Predictably, allegations of horse trading are flying thick and fast with hours to go before Saturday dawns.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) filed complained & demanded action against BJP's Janardhan Reddy for offering hundreds of crore rupees & a minister portfolio to Raichur rural MLA Basvanagowda Daddal through telephone
— ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2018
Read the prayers made by petitioners pic.twitter.com/cPYvdW5Zt9
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 18, 2018
The fight for Karnataka’s Chief Minister post continues to rage on although B S Yeddyurappa was crowned in a low key ceremony this week - BJP won 104 seats while the Congress and JD(S), after a post-poll cobbling together, are claiming the support of 118 MLAs.
The BJP needs at least 112 to make the cut and is showing confidence in numbers even as the other side claims some MLAs are being “hijacked”.
BJP has the first go at power but the margins are razor thin on both sides. Congress-JD(S) is claiming a “clear majority”.
The Congress and JD(S) mounted a legal challenge late Wednesday night and have achieved some breakthroughs. First, the Congress-JDS team got a 1:45 am hearing that went on till 5:30 am Thursday and what was a 15 day timeframe for the BJP to prove strength in a floor test has been scrunched into barely 24 hours.
The same three-judge bench which heard the first petition will sit in during the Saturday hearing. Congress and JD(S) are asking for the removal of Bopaiah and appointment of the seniormost MLA instead. They are also asking for a video recording of the entire floor test.
The Supreme Court rightly said that KK Venugopal’s suggestion that the anti-defection law be kept in abeyance was "preposterous". Is it the Attorney General's job to support suitcase politics, or it is to uphold the Constitution?https://t.co/1hZ7pUFPv9 https://t.co/nn7OovlGDP
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) May 18, 2018
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