Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (DC)
Bengaluru, May 25: Congress leader K R Ramesh Kumar on Friday May 25 was unanimously elected the Karnataka assembly speaker ahead of the trust vote, after the BJP withdrew the nomination of Suresh Kumar.
Six-time MLA K R Ramesh Kumar had served as the speaker during the H D Deve Gowda and the J H Patel governments in the state (1994-99).
Suresh Kumar, a fifth term MLA from the city had filed his nomination papers before assembly secretary S Murthy at Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the state legislature on Thursday.
JD(S) state chief H D Kumaraswamy took oath as the chief minister on May 23 at 4.30 pm. Dr G Parameshwara was sworn-in as the Karnataka’s first Dalit deputy chief minister.
Kumaraswamy is in a comfortable position given the strength of the JD(S)-Congress-BSP coalition. While the Congress has 78 MLAs, Kumaraswamy's JD(S) has 36, and the BSP has one. The alliance has also claimed support of the lone KPJP MLA and an Independent.
The floor test comes almost a week after BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa ended his five-day run as CM without going through the motions of a trust vote.
In the elections held on May 12, voters gave a hung assembly in 222 constituencies, with 37 for the JD-S, including one from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 78 for the Congress and 104 for the BJP, which fell eight less than the 112-halfway mark for a simple majority and passing the floor test. BJP's B S Yeddyurappa had stepped down on last Saturday 55 hours after taking oath as the new CM failing to prove his majority in the assembly.