BS Yeddyurappa Won’t Face Floor Test, May Resign: Sources

The sources said that since Yeddyurappa is short of the majority mark of 112, he may resign before even facing the floor test, scheduled at 4 PM. Reports also have it that the CM has sought an appointment with Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala just after the floor test and has even prepared a speech.

New Delhi, May 19: BS Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on May 16, may not face the floor test to prove majority and resign from the post, News18 quoted a source as saying. The sources said that since Yeddyurappa is short of the majority mark of 112, he may resign before even facing the floor test, scheduled at 4 PM. Reports also have it that the CM has sought an appointment with Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala just after the floor test and has even prepared a speech.

Ahead of the floor test in Karnataka, the Congress party on Saturday alleged that BJP chief Yeddyurappa spoke to a Congress MLA on the phone, offering him a minister’s post. The Congress party released an audio clip between Congress MLA BC Patil and Yeddyurappa in which the latter tells the MLA not to go to Kochi and he could be made a minister. When Patil tells him that he’s on the bus with others, he is told to bring them as well.

“I’ll arrange a meeting with the National President. You’ll become a minister. You’ll make 100 times the wealth you made so far… don’t you have faith in me? We’ll make you a Minister and help you in whatever way you want. Once you go back to Kochi, the matter is closed because we won’t be able to catch you,” Yeddyurappa allegedly said in the clip. (Karnataka Assembly Floor Test: All You Need to Know About The Number Game)

“Don’t go to Kochi, come back. We’ll make you a Minister and help you in whatever way you want.”
This audio recording of @BSYBJP trying to lure Congress MLA goes on to prove, that Yeddyurappa is working hard to live up to his reputation of being corrupt and devoid of ethics. pic.twitter.com/HSvh2chnlC

— Congress (@INCIndia) May 19, 2018

In other reports, the Congress MLA Anand Singh, who had been missing since the Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2018, has now reached the Vidhana Soudha. He was reportedly holed up inside Bengaluru’s Goldfinch Hotel.

Congress had also alleged that Yeddyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra had tried to bribe their MLA with a ministry or “Rs 15 crore” to switch sides. “He (BY Vijayendra) called the wife of a Congress MA and asked her to request him to vote for Yeddyurappa. We will give your husband a ministry or else we’ll giver Rs 15 crore to your husband,” Congress leader VS Ugrappa claimed.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court rejected Congress-JD(S) plea over the appointment of KG Bopanaih as pro tem speaker of Karnataka Assembly for the floor test.

In Karnataka elections, the BJP won 104 of the 222 seats, falling eight short of the 112-halfway mark. The Congress bagged 78 seats and the JD-S 37 along with its ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The Karnataka Assembly has a total strength of 224. Elections to 2 seats were deferred and voting took place for 222 seats. The total number in the House will go down from 222 to 221 as H D Kumaraswamy, who contested from two seats and won from both, will have to vacate one seat.