Bengaluru: The crucial floor test in Karnataka Assembly at 4pm on Saturday will take place through a show of hands, sources close to pro tem speaker KG Bopaiah told News18 hours before the trust vote to test the strength of the BS Yeddyurappa government.
The proceedings, which, as per the ruling of the Supreme Court be telecast live, will now have the speaker counting the number of hands raised in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) versus those raised in favour of the Congress and the JD(S).
In the 222-seat Assembly being convened on Saturday, the BJP has 104 elected representatives, while the Congress and the JD(S) together have 116 MLAs. BS Yedyurappa, who took oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Friday, needs eight more votes to form government.
The total strength of the Assembly is 224, but polls to two seats will be held at a later date.
Alternatively, the BJP will also sail through if 14 MLAs from the Congress-JD(S) camp abstain from voting.
As the week-long drama comes to an end at 4 pm on Saturday, the show of hands by 222 MLAs elected in the high-voltage assembly elections will decide the fate of the BJP, the Congress and the JD(S) in Karnataka.
The Supreme Court has ordered the live telecast of proceedings of the floor test in the Karnataka Assembly. A bench comprising justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and Ashok Bhushan passed the order after recording the statement of Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that there will be live telecast of the proceedings.
Mehta was appearing for the BJP-led Karnataka government and Governor Vajubhai Vala.
"Though a number of prayers have been made in the application of Congress-JD(S) combine, challenging the appointment BJP MLA K G Bopaiah as pro tem speaker, it was not necessary to go into all the prayers in view of the statement made by Mehta that there will be live telecast of the proceedings," the order said.
"We may place on record that statement of Tushar Mehta is that there would be live telecast of the proceedings of the legislative assembly in respect of the floor test.
"It is also stated that secretary of legislative assembly will record it," the order said.
The bench noted that Mehta has also informed it that several local channels will be provided with the live feed of the proceedings so as to telecast the same simultaneously.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Congress-JD(S) combine, have not pressed their prayers made in the application in view of the statement made by Mehta, the bench said.
The bench, in its order, said, "We also clarify that there shall be no other item in the agenda that shall be taken up during the trust vote."
Comments
0 comment