Putting an end to a 10-day long political power battle in Karnataka, the Congress-JD(S) alliance government led by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy sailed through the floor test on Friday with the support of 117 MLAs.
Kumaraswamy moved the one-line trust motion in the assembly soon after the unanimous election of Congress MLA K.R. Ramesh Kumar as the new Speaker. BJP had fielded its senior leader S. Suresh Kumar, a fifth term MLA, for the post of the Speaker, but withdrew from the fray in the last minute.
BJP staged a walkout from the house during the trust vote, soon after its legislature party leader B.S. Yeddyurappa made a scathing attack on the ruling alliance. Yeddyurappa urged Kumaraswamy to waive farm loans in 24 hours or face protests from Monday. The saffron party also threatened a Karnataka bandh on May 28.
Earlier, Yeddyurappa was recognised as the leader of the opposition in the assembly. Newly-elected Speaker Ramesh Kumar made the announcement shortly after his election as the presiding officer of the house. Govind Karjol would be the deputy opposition leader, Kumar said.
The 58-year-old JD(S) leader was sworn in as the chief minister while Congress leader G. Parameshwara took oath as his deputy on Wednesday after Governor Vajubhai Vala invited the alliance to form government on May 19. The governor had also given 15 days time to Kumaraswamy to prove majority in the house.
BJP legislature party leader B.S. Yeddyurappa speaking in the assembly | Twitter/ANI
Kumaraswamy is likely to expand his ministry next week after the Congress submits the names for its quota of 21 cabinet posts and he selects 11 of his legislators to fill the JD(S) quota of Cabinet posts. Parameshwara had on Thursday said that after the floor test Congress and JD(S) leaders along with the chief minister would sit together to decide on a coordination committee.
Earlier, speaking in the assembly soon after moving the trust motion, Chief Minister Kumaraswamy cited the 2006 JDS-BJP alliance and said his early association with the BJP had caused a strain in his relationship with his father, H.D. Deve Gowda. Reiterating the secular nature of his father, Kumaraswamy also underlined that the alliance with the Congress was a natural choice.
Cracks in alliance?
Hours before the floor test, Parameshwara had said that the Congress-JD(S) coalition was yet to discuss modalities about Kumaraswamy continuing as chief minister for a full five year term, indicating differences in the alliance. Ahead of his swearing-in, Kumaraswamy had dismissed reports about his party working out a power sharing formula of heading the government for 30 months each.
Meanwhile reports said Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar, who was also a contender for the deputy chief minister's post, was unhappy with the party leadership. If reports are to be believed, Shivakumar, who emerged as a key figure in keeping the party MLAs together before the trust vote of BJP's Yeddyurappa government, is upset over not getting the deputy CM post.
The Congress has 78 MLAs, Kumaraswamy's JD(S) 36, and BSP 1. The alliance has also claimed support of the lone KPJP MLA and an independent. Kumaraswamy had won from two constituencies.
The 224-member Assembly has an effective strength of 221, as election for Jayanagar seat was countermanded following the death of the BJP candidate, and deferred in R.R. Nagar over allegations of electoral malpractices.
Battle for power
The BJP emerged the single largest party in the assembly with 104 MLAs. Party leader Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the chief minister on May 17, had stepped down two days later in the face of imminent defeat without going through the motions of a floor test.
Governor Vala's decision to invite Yeddyurappa to form government had sparked widespread protests with Congress and JD(S) moving the Supreme Court. The top court, while refusing to stay his swearing in, cut short the 15-day window to 24 hours.
High voltage political drama began unfolding in the southern state on May 15 when the Congress, in a surprise decision, extended an unconditional support to the JD(S) even before three-fourth of the results were announced.
Prospects of grand alliance
Kumaraswamy's swearing-in a show of opposition unity with the leaders of several non-NDA parties, attending the ceremony in Bengaluru. Besides UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, prominent among those attended the function include West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, BSP supremo Mayawati, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury.
Congress leader Shivakumar had said that Karnataka was the beginning of the formation of a grand alliance and this was to be achieved by the secular parties coming together.