BS Yediyurappa wins Karnataka assembly trust vote in smooth affair

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday proved his majority in the state Assembly floor test by winning the confidence motion by a voice vote.

With the numbers game favouring the BJP government, the Congress and JDS did not press for division on the one-line motion moved by Yediyurappa that the House expresses confidence in his three-day old Ministry.

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As the Opposition did not press for division, the Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar declared that the motion had been passed by a voice vote.

The BJP was expected to have a smooth sail with the trust vote, as the disqualification of 17 rebel MLAs by the Speaker on Sunday had reduced the effective strength of the 225-member Assembly to 208.

Responded to Yediyurappa's comment that the state administration had been at a standstill for the last year, former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said, "I ran the government for 14 months. I have no obligation to answer your (BS Yediyurappa) questions. I need to answer to my conscience. From past 14 months, everything was being recorded. People know what work I have done."

The magic figure for simple majority was 105, equivalent to the strength of the BJP, which also commanded the support of an Independent.

The Congress has 66 members, JDS 34, the Speaker one (who has a casting vote in case of a tie) and one expelled BSP member who was thrown out of the party for violating its directive to vote for the H D Kumaraswamy government during the trust vote on July 23.

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