Karnataka trust vote updates: BSY proves majority; Assembly to vote for new Speaker on Jul 30

Bengaluru, July 29: B S Yediyurappa has won the trust vote. He won the trust vote moved by moved by him through a voice vote. Yediyurappa urged everyone in the House to cooperate with him and help him work for the people. Meanwhile, the Karnataka speaker KR Ramesh Kumar announced his resignation.

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Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar had disqualified 14 rebel MLAs from Congress and JD(S) for anti-party activities under the anti-defection law. He had earlier disqualified three other MLAs under the law. Some BJP leaders said they were unlikely to bring a motion to remove Kumar on Monday. According to the law, such a motion can only be taken up after 14 days and needs a simple majority of the assembly to pass.

Meanwhile, the rebels said they will move the apex court on Monday to challenge their disqualification, which they argued was illegal. "We will question everything based on the prevailing law," said dissident JD(S) lawmaker AH Vishwanath.

With the disqualification of 17 MLAs from Congress and JD(S), the magic number for the simple majority is 105.

A lone Independent MLA has extended support to BJP.

With the disqualification, the half-way mark of the 225-member Assembly has gone down substantially, which will benefit BJP leader BS Yediyurappa.

With the 14 disqualification of 14 MLAs and three others on 25 July, the Assembly is short by 17 legislators.

The effective strength of the House without these 17 MLAs will be 208, including the Speaker. The half-way mark in the Assembly, thus, has gone down from 113 to 104, giving BJP an edge in the House at least till by-elections are held for the seats vacated by the MLAs.

In the bypolls that will be held later, if BJP wins at least eight seats, it will go past the majority mark of 113 on its own.

On 27 July, BS Yediyurappa took oath as Chief Minister succeeding HD Kumaraswamy, three days after the Congress-JDS coalition government crumbled on failing the floor test.

Accusations of horse-trading and in-fighting have defined Karnataka politics in recent months but if Yediyurappa manages to pass Monday's floor test, it could well be the beginning of political order.