Vote of confidence to be held today in Karnataka Assembly

Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar informed media persons in Bengaluru today that the floor test will be held today.

He has said that he will abide by the word he gave on Friday to hold the floor test of the coalition government today. Thereafter, in the House the Speaker allowed the members to speak on the confidence motion, asking members to act with responsibility and not force him to intervene in the time taken for discussion.

Seeking more clarity, the BJP members Madhuswamy and Jagadish Shetter asked the Speaker to fix a time for the discussion and take up the trust vote. In response, the Speaker said that he has indicated the same.

Speaker Ramesh Kumar began the Assembly session today by giving a ruling on the point of Order raised by Congress legislative party leader Siddaramaiah.

He ruled that legislative party leader can perform his role of issuing whip to all his MLAs and that cannot be curtailed.

In another development, Speaker Ramesh Kumar has asked rebel MLAs to be present in his office tomorrow morning for hearing the petition filed by Congress Legislative party leader Siddaramaiah to disqualify rebels for anti-party activities.

A notice was issued by the Speaker on July 18 under rule 7 of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly (Disqualification of members on the ground of defection) rules. The sources say that Speaker is yet to receive replies to the notice issued on July 18.

The Hindu