How the numbers stack up for Congress-JD(S)

The Congress and JD(S) would not stake a claim to form the government in Karnataka. The Congress and JD(S) which kept their flock together for almost four days after the BJP staked a claim will now face a floor test on the House.

Going by the numbers of the two parties have, it does not appear as though there would be any problem for them to pass the floor test. The Congress has 78 MLAs while the JD(S) has 38. Kumaraswamy holds two seats and this would be counted as one during a trust vote. The magic number in the House would be 111.

Before the trust vote a full time speaker would be elected. The party with the highest number would be able to elect the speaker. In this case it would be a speaker from the Congress-JD(S) combine.

The Governor would invite the Congress-JD(S) to form the government and also a fix a date for the floor test.