Karnataka: Ramesh of Cong elected Speaker, Floor test begins
Bengaluru, May 25 (IBNS): Congress MLA KR Ramesh was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly as the floor test for the HD Kumaraswamy coalition Government is underway, reports said.
Ramesh Kumar is an MLA from the Kolar region. He was selected for the post by the Congress-JDS combine.
Welcoming Ramesh Kumar, Chief Minister Kumaraswamy said: "We are happy that the speaker has been elected unanimously. I strongly believe in your sense of fairness and responsibility in any task that will be delegated to you. We will see good days going forward.".
He also said that this was a proud moment for him because KR Ramesh Kumar was the speaker of the Assembly when his father, HD Deve Gowda, was serving as the Chief Minister.
“We will cooperate with you in whatever decisions you will make as the speaker of the house,” he added
. Kumaraswamy, who took oath on 23 May, said that the Congress-JD(S) coalition had the tally in their favour, with 117 seats in the 225-member assembly. Three seats remain vacant.
Along with Kumaraswamy, G Parameshwara took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state on Wednesday.
The Congress will get 22 ministries compared to 12 for JD(S).
The Congress and the JD(S) formed the government after a week-long political drama, which occurred after the Karnataka poll results.
While the Karnataka people gave a fractured mandate, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which emerged as a single largest party with 104 seats, was invited to form the government by Governor Vajubhai Vala amid controversy.
However, the Congress and the JD(S) combine claimed to have the simple majority (113) with the support of 117 lawmakers.
The political tussle reached the judiciary with the Congress-JD(S) moving the Supreme Court to stall BJP's strongman BS Yeddyurappa's swearing-in as the CM.
Though the swearing-in ceremony could not be stopped, the top court slashed the 15-day period, which was given by the Governor to the BJP to prove majority, to little more than 24 hours.
Even before the floor test began, Yeddyurappa resigned as the BJP failed to secure a simple majority. With two seats yet to be polled, BJP would have required the support of 111 MLAs for the time being to form the state government.
Meanwhile, the BJP had boycotted the swearing-in ceremony making allegations that the Congress-JD(S) formed the Karnataka government against the people's mandate.
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