Delhi: Congress lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi leaves for the Supreme Court for hearing in plea filed by Congress-JD(S) regarding the appointment of pro tem speaker KG Bopaiah today. pic.twitter.com/XJz6w2pEdo
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2018
Congress lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi leaves for the Supreme Court for hearing in plea filed by Congress-JD(S) regarding the appointment of pro tem speaker KG Bopaiah today.
Ramalinga Reddy on Congress MLA Anand Singh: Physically he is not with us but he is in contact with our leaders. He has to come to Vidhana Soudha today. He will definitely vote for us. He is with us. He will come back.
Three hours ahead of SC hearing, Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted, "How many tricks will the BJP invent before the Karnataka Assembly votes on the motion of confidence? How many hurdles will they place?"
Visuals of KG Bopaiah, the pro-tem speaker, at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. #FloorTest to be held at 4 pm today. #KarnatakaElection2018 pic.twitter.com/mruC7F7FZg
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2018
How many tricks will the BJP invent before the Karnataka Assembly votes on the motion of confidence? How many hurdles will they place?
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 19, 2018
Karnataka Election result 2018: Newly-elected JD(S) and Congress MLAs from Karnataka, who had been camping here in two hotels to avoid any poaching bids, left for Bengaluru for the crucial floor test in the state assembly today. Though the legislators were prepared to stay in the city hotels for a few days, they all left on Friday night by road as the Supreme Court ordered that a floor test be held in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 PM today to confirm whether newly-appointed BJP Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa enjoys a majority in the state.
"All the legislators left for Bengaluru by road at 10 pm," Vamshi Chand Reddy, Congress MLA in Telanagana, said.
The political battle over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader B S Yeddyurappa taking oath as Karnataka Chief Minister intensified on Friday with both the Congress and BJP accusing each other of 'murdering democracy. Just a day before BJP's BS Yeddyurappa faces the Supreme Court-ordered floor test in the Karnataka Assembly, the Congress released an audio tape that the party claims shows how the BJP was trying to lure its legislators to support Chief Minister Yeddyurappa in the Karnataka Assembly. In this audio clip, the Congress said Janardhana Reddy, the scam-tainted mining baron linked to the BJP, was offering money and posts to Congress legislator from Raichur Rural seat for his support during the test of strength in the Assembly. "Janardhana Reddy clearly says he has the backing of BJP President Amit Shah for doing horse-trading (sic)," the Congress alleged in a tweet after its leaders played out the clip at a media briefing.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar rubbished the Congress charge. "There is a reference to Amit Shah in it... Amit Shah doesn't do this... Several such lies have been exposed," the senior BJP leader, calling the tape "false propaganda". The struggle for power took an altogether new dimension on May 15 when the election results showed that people of Karnataka voted a hung Assembly. After failing to emerge as the single-largest party, the Congress stitched an alliance with the JD(S).
* SC to hear Congress-JD(S)' petition challenging the appointment of K G Bopaiah as pro-tem speaker at 10:30 am on Saturday.
* SC directs a floor test in the Karnataka Assembly at 4 pm today.
* SC turns down Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's request for a secret ballot during the floor test.
* SC restrains the Karnataka government and Governor Vajubhai Vala from nominating any MLA from the Anglo-Indian community ahead of the floor test today.
* SC directs all the elected members to take oath on Friday and the exercise shall be completed before 4 pm.
* SC said that the pro-tem Speaker shall conduct the floor test today at 4 pm to ascertain the majority.
* SC directs the DGP to himself ensure adequate and sufficient security arrangements, so that there is no lapse on this count whatsoever.
* SC says the newly-elected government shall not to take any major policy decision till it proves majority in the House. Yeddyurappa assures no such decision will be taken.
