HD Kumaraswamy expected to seek floor test today

Bengaluru: Chief minister HD Kumaraswamy is expected to seek a floor test in the Karnataka assembly on Monday as JDS-Congress regime has run out of options and Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar is unlikely to allow the confusion to prolong.

Congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah reportedly turned down an offer from JDS on Sunday to lead the coalition.

“The Speaker, the CM and the CLP leader have all given a commitment in the House on Friday that they will help complete the process of trust vote on Monday. We hope they will stand by their word in the House,” BJP spokesperson S Suresh Kumar told ET.


In a press release on Sunday night, BJP state chief BS Yeddyurappa demanded the CM’s resignation, saying the combine had lost the mandate.

While the rebel Congress and JDS MLAs camping in Mumbai refused to respond to appeals from their respective leaders, BSP chief Mayawati asked her party MLA, N Mahesh, to vote for the coalition. Congress MLA (Ballari rural) B Nagendra is unlikely to turn up on Monday as he is still in hospital.

Two Congress ministers said the party had drawn up a strategy to counter BJP. First, it will seek a ruling from the Speaker on the July 17 interim order of the SC restraining Congress and JDS from compelling the rebels to attend the House. The party, along with JDS, will also press for a clarification from the SC in the morning on its order to understand if they could exercise their powers and issue whips.

The BJP, in an effort to forestall any more delaying tactics, will mount a legal battle alongside. Independent MLAs R Shankar and H Nagesh, who have pledged their loyalty to BJP, are set to move the SC on Monday morning praying for a direction to the Speaker to complete the floor test the same day itself.