Karnataka Speaker sets Tuesday evening deadline for floor test

Bengaluru, July 23 (IANS) A miffed Karnataka Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar on Monday night set 6 p.m. on Tuesday as the last deadline for the floor test to prove majority by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in the House.

"The session is adjourned to 10 a.m. on Tuesday for concluding the debate by 4 p.m. and conducting the floor test at 6 p.m.," Kumar told the members and left the Assembly in a huff.

The opposition BJP members, however, protested adjourning the House without the floor test by the Speaker and bowing to the demand of the ruling Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and Congress to give more time for concluding the debate on the motion.

Earlier, Karnataka's beleaguered ruling JD-S and Congress members beseeched Ramesh Kumar to grant two more days for the floor test on the confidence motion their Chief Minister Kumaraswamy moved on July 18 to prove majority in the House.

"In view of the changed circumstances since July 19 and a few petitions pending or coming up in the Supreme Court on Tuesday for hearing and ruling on issues pertaining to the state and the prevailing political crisis, we request you to defer the floor test to Wednesday," Kumaraswamy told the Speaker.

Admitting that Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah and he had assured the House on Friday of completing the debate for the floor test, the Chief Minister alleged that a fake resignation letter with his forged signature and address to state Governor Vajubhai Vala was being circulated in the social media like WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook since late evening when he was in the Assembly.

"I don't know who is so desperate for my resignation that a fake letter was prepared with my forged signature and shared in the social media. It also made it to the print and electronic media, which brought it to my office's notice. This mischief needs to be investigated to find who all are behind this," Kumaraswamy told the Speaker in Kannada.