Karnataka trust vote: How the numbers stack up for BJP, Congress-JDS

BENGALURU: Karnataka Assembly will witness a trust vote to decide the fate of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yeddyurappa as the 23rd Chief Minister of the state. The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Yeddyurappa should move the Motion of Confidence on Saturday 4 pm in Karnataka Vidhan Soudha while hearing a petition filed by the Congress-Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) combine challenging Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to appoint him as the chief minister of the state.

While the BJP has 104 MLAs, the Congress has 78 and the JDS 37 legislators. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which is in a pre-poll alliance with the JDS, has one MLA. Together the Congress-JDS-BSP combine has 116 MLAs and it is also claiming the support of two independent lawmakers taking its tally to 118.

The Karnataka Assembly currently has 222 MLAs but the proceedings on Saturday will be conducted by a Pro Tem Speaker and so the effective strength will come down to 221. This is because the Speaker is not allowed to vote unless there is a tie. So to win the trust vote, Yeddyurappa will need 111 MLAs.

The majority mark can come down if some of the MLAs abstain. If the BJP's number remains at 104, then 14 MLAs from the opposition camp need to abstain for Yeddyurappa to win the trust vote.

The Supreme Court on Friday also ordered that Yeddyurappa shall not nominate the Anglo Indian Representative before the floor test. He has also been barred from taking any major policy decisions before the results of the floor test. "Let the House decide and the best course would be floor test," a three-judge bench headed by Justice AK Sikri said.