Karnataka Assembly: Floor test shortly, 'missing' Congress MLAs return

The Assembly session has already begun.

Meanwhile, two Congress MLAs-Anand Singh and Pratap Gouda Patil- who were said to be 'missing' by the Congress have been traced and brought to the Assembly.

They are currently present in the Assembly with other senior Congress leaders.

The floor test is scheduled to take place at 4 pm.

The Supreme Court on Friday slashed the 15-day period, which was provided by Governor Vajubhai Vala, of the BJP to virtually 24 hours to prove majority in the assembly.

Apparently the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), which formed a post-poll alliance, are in an advantageous position as their total number of seats are well over the majority mark of 113.

Congress' 78 MLAs are set to support former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda's JD(S), which bagged 38 seats, to form the next government.

JD(S) has selected its leader HD Kumaraswamy as the Chief Ministerial candidate.

The Karnataka Governor had triggered a row on Wednesday by inviting BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa to take oath, which eventually occurred a day later despite Congress' attempt to stall it by moving the Supreme Court.

Though reaching the majority mark could be an uphill task for the BJP with 104 seats under its belt, the saffron outfit is exuding confidence in winning the floor test.

The Congress and the JD(S) have alleged that the BJP will resort to horsetrading to convert 104 into 113. With two seats yet to be polled in the state, reaching 111 would suffice for the BJP to win the floor test for now.

Following the top court's order, the Governor has appointed BJP lawmaker KJ Bopaiah as the pro tem Speaker to preside the floor test.