Yeddyurappa has faced 5 floor tests as CM

BS Yeddyurappa, who resigned as Karnataka Chief Minister after failing to muster numbers to continue in government, had faced four floor tests earlier.

Outgoing Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa addresses the house members before a floor test, at Vidhana Soudha, in Bengaluru, on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

BENGALURU: BS Yeddyurappa, who resigned as Karnataka Chief Minister after failing to muster numbers to continue in government, had faced four floor tests earlier. He faced the first floor test on November 19, 2007 where BJP's ally, Janata Dal (Secular) withdrew its support to the party, barely eight days after he took over. President's rule was imposed in the state for six months and when the election took place, BJP once again emerged as the single largest party but fell three short of a majority. That ensued the "Operation Lotus" in Karnataka. It involved making the opposition MLAs resign and contest again on a BJP ticket to shore up the numbers. Yeddyuruppa won the floor test in June 2008. Two years after the second floor test, he faced another challenge to his government when 18 MLAs withdrew support with the then governor Hansraj Bhardwaj asking Yeddyurappa to seek the vote of confidence. However, the then Speaker K G Bopaiah disqualified 16 MLAs, which comprised 11 BJP MLAs and five independents, thus bailing out the Yeddyurappa government. The move helped Yeddyurappa win the trust vote on October 11, 2010, but it drew the ire of Bhardwaj, who rejected the floor test as a "farce" and recommended President's rule in the state. At the same time, he gave another chance to Yeddyurappa to prove his majority in the house. The fourth trust vote was conducted three days later, on October 14, 2010, which he won.