Karnataka Government Formation: Supreme Court Orders Floor Test Tomorrow At 4 PM

On May 18, the Supreme Court ordered for a floor test to be conducted in the Karnataka Assembly on May 19, Saturday, at 4 pm. Supreme court was hearing a petition filed by Congress & JD(S) against Karnataka Governor decision allowing 15 days time to BJP govt to show its strength. SC said that all the MLAs will vote tomorrow and the protem speaker would decide the manner in which floor test should be conducted. Attorney General’s request for the test through secret ballot has been turned down.

Mr. Yeddyurappa should not take any major policy decisions in the meantime, the Court said.

BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa who was sworn in as the Chief Minister of a minority govt in Karnataka will have to prove his majority as per the apex court’s order by tomorrow as opposed to the 15-days grace granted by the Governor earlier. He is the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Governor Vajubhai Vala had invited BJP to form the government, who is eight-members short of majority mark and gave Mr Yeddyurappa 15 days to prove majority.

Objecting to this, Congress moved SC against the governor’s decision. The all-night hearing on Wednesday allowed Yeddyurappa’s swearing-in but objected to the 15-days period sanctioned to prove majority. The petition regarding this, which was heard again today, directed that the floor test be conducted tomorrow “so that nobody gets time”

Lawyer Mukul Rohatgi who is representing Yeddyurappa argued that the majority can be proved only on the floor of the house. Congress-JD (S) combine has moved around 116 lawmakers to Hyderabad.

Karnataka Elections

The Karnataka elections, where voting was held in 222 of the 224 constituencies on May 12, with BJP winning 104 and Congress and JD (S) with 78 and 37 seats each, no single party was able to cross the halfway mark of 112. This resulted in a hung assembly. The Karnataka Governor invited BJP to form the government, which attracted sharp criticism from Congress. They alleged that the Governor was encouraging horse trading as BJP did not have the numbers. Calling the move “immoral, illegal and unconstitutional” Congress approached the Supreme Court for a stay order on the swearing-in ceremony.