Election to Karnataka Speaker’s post will see a contest

Congress’ Speaker nominee K.R. Ramesh Kumar files his papers at the Vidhana Soudha on May 24, 2018.

Congress’ Speaker nominee K.R. Ramesh Kumar files his papers at the Vidhana Soudha on May 24, 2018.   | Photo Credit: V Sreenivasa Murthy

With the election to the Speaker’s post scheduled for Friday afternoon, the Congress-Janata Dal(S) nominee, K.R. Ramesh Kumar, and BJP nominee S. Suresh Kumar filed their nomination papers with the Legislative Assembly Secretariat here on Thursday.

While Mr. Suresh Kumar exuded confidence of winning the election, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wondered how could he win when BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa failed to win the trust vote. “We hope he withdraws from the race,” he said.

Seeking the BJP’s cooperation, Deputy Chief Minister Parameshwara said Mr. Ramesh Kumar should be elected unopposed. “Once he sits in the Speaker’s chair, he does not belong to any party,” he said.