BS Yeddyurappa government proves majority in state Assembly with 119 votes in favour

BANGALORE: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa once again proved the majority of his government in the state Assembly on Thursday, the third time in past nine months, amidst a noisy boycott by the Opposition party.

The Yeddyurappa-led BJP government in Karnataka secured 119 votes in its favour while none was cast against it in the 225-member Legislative Assembly.

"We had to prove our majority and this (trust vote) has removed any doubt," Yeddyurappa told mediapersons after the Assembly session. Though, there was no demand from the opposition parties or governor asking the government to prove its majority, the chief minister suo moto pressed for this motion.

The BJP government in Karnataka went for the trust vote on Thursday following a very tumultuous eight months since the Speaker disqualified 16 MLAs from the Legislative Assembly in October, 2008, who had expressed no confidence in Chief Minister Yeddyurappa.

The Supreme Court set aside the Speaker's ruling in May, raising a question mark on the majority status of the government, though in a quick turnaround of events, 10 dissident BJP MLAs expressed their support back for Yeddyurappa.

The government convened the ongoing 10 day legislature session, ostensibly to pass certain bills relating to the budget, but it also provided Yeddyurappa an opportunity to prove the majority all over again.

All the 11 previously dissident MLAs were present in the Assembly and voted in favour Yeddyurappa. However, the five independent MLAs who were earlier part of the government chose to abstain from voting.

Earlier in the day, principal opposition party Congress demanded a discussion on the role of the Speaker following the Supreme Court observations on his role in disqualifying the MLAs.

The Congress MLAs shouted slogans and walked out of the House and were undecided on whether they would be attending the remaining part of the session. The other opposition party - Janata Dal (Secular) has already decided that it would not be participating in the ongoing legislature session.

Yeddyurappa chastised the Opposition for constantly disrupting the proceedings in the House. He also criticised the role of the Governor whose offices, he claimed were being used by the opposition parties to make a backdoor entry into the government.