Karnataka Political Crisis: Trust Vote Today At 6 PM; Last Deadline For CM Kumaraswamy To Prove Majority

Miffed over the ruckus in the assembly last night, Karnataka Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar categorically stated that the discussion would end by 4 PM on Tuesday and by 6 PM, the voting process would be completed.

Karnataka Political Crisis: The last deadline for the floor test to prove majority by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in the House is today. (PTI)

Karnataka Political Crisis: The Karnataka assembly was adjourned close to midnight on Monday, with Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar setting a fresh deadline for the trust vote - 6 pm on Tuesday. This comes as the last deadline for the floor test to prove majority by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in the House. Miffed over the ruckus in the assembly previous night, Karnataka Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar categorically stated that the discussion would end by 4 PM on Tuesday and by 6 PM, the voting process would be completed. "I do not want this 11 pm thing again. Everyone has health conditions," the Speaker said at the end of a turbulent day. "The session is adjourned to 10 a.m. on Tuesday for concluding the debate by 4 p.m. and conducting the floor test at 6 p.m.," Kumar told the members and left the Assembly in a huff. The speaker adjourned the House at 11.45 PM after repeatedly reminding the government it should honour its commitment to conclude the trust vote proceedings Monday itself, but an unrelenting Congress created a ruckus towards the end of day's proceedings.

Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar: By 6 PM tomorrow the floor test will be done. https://t.co/sjLOXjy2ql

— ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2019

The opposition BJP members, however, protested adjourning the House without the floor test by the Speaker and bowing to the demand of the ruling Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and Congress to give more time for concluding the debate on the motion. The BJP has accused the Chief Minister of delaying the trust vote in hopes of reprieve from the Supreme Court. Twenty MLAs, including 17 from the ruling coalition, skipped the proceedings Monday, besides two Independents and BSP member N Mahesh, who is supporting the government. Serving a warning to the rebel MLAs, sequestered in a Mumbai hotel, senior minister D K Shivakumar reminded them that they would face disqualification if they did not turn up before the speaker on Tuesday in response to his notice. Also Watch | SC Refuses To Urgently List Plea Seeking Floor Test Forthwith Maintaining composure throughout, BJP members made repeated pleas to the Speaker to conclude the process Monday itself without dragging it any further. The assembly was adjourned for nearly two hours as Congress and JDS members demanded more time to discuss the confidence motion after the Speaker asked them to wind up quickly so that the trust vote process could be completed. After the House resumed its sitting, JDS-Congress members raised slogans saying, "we want justice, we want discussion." Earlier, Karnataka's beleaguered ruling JD-S and Congress members beseeched Ramesh Kumar to grant two more days for the floor test on the confidence motion their Chief Minister Kumaraswamy moved on July 18 to prove majority in the House. The ruling combine's strength is 117-- Congress 78, JD(S) 37, BSP 1, and nominated 1, besides the Speaker. With the support of the two independents, BJP has 107 MLAs in the 225-member House, including the nominated MLA and Speaker. If the resignations of 15 MLAs (12 from Congress and three from JDS) are accepted or if they stay away, the ruling coalition's tally will plummet to 101, reducing the government to a minority. (With inputs from agencies)