Trust Vote Hours Away, JDS-Congress Lawmakers Head Back To Bengaluru

NEW DELHI:  24 hours after they were moved out from Bengaluru to Hyderabad over fears of poaching, the lawmakers of the Congress and the Janata Dal Secular or JDS are on their way back to Karnataka's capital for BS Yeddyurappa's trust vote in the assembly today.

115 lawmakers of the two parties, along with their leaders, left from the two hotels they were sequestered in, after 10:30 pm on Friday. While the JDS lawmakers are on their way back in a flight, the Congress leaders have decided to return in luxury buses.

Former Karnataka chief ministers Siddaramaiah and HD Kumaraswamy had also flown to Hyderabad earlier on Friday for crucial meetings to discuss the strategy to be adopted in the state assembly for BJP's trust vote.

The Congress and JDS allege that the lawmakers were threatened and also offered Rs. 100 crore bribes and ministries. One of the lawmakers, Anand Singh, was "kidnapped", the Congress claimed. Another Congress legislator also went MIA after putting down his signature on a list of party legislators.

The BJP is eight short of the majority mark of 111 - it won 104 seats but one of its lawmakers has been picked as the temporary speaker for the trust vote today.

Governor Vajubhai Vala, who had on Wednesday night invited BS Yeddyurappa to form government after a hung verdict, had controversially given him 15 days to prove majority. However, the Supreme Court struck down that time frame on Friday morning after the Congress approached them, and asked Mr Yeddyurappa to take a floor test on Saturday at 4 pm.

The effective strength of the house is 221, so the majority is 111. The BJP, with 103, needs eight for a majority. The Congress-JDS combine claims 115 votes.

With inputs from IANS

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/trust-vote-hours-away-jds-congress-lawmakers-head-back-to-bengaluru-1854213