Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa (TOI photo)

BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa proved his majority in the assembly on Monday without breaking a sweat, setting the ball rolling for cabinet formation with the BJP leadership's nod in Delhi. The win somewhat erased memories of his trust vote 14 months ago when he had to resign on the floor of the House, admitting he did not have the numbers.

Since then, the BJP tally just went up by one to 105, but it was enough to tide through a House reduced to 208 members after the disqualification of 17 Congress-JD(S) rebels. The Congress-JD(S) did not press for a division.

Soon after, speaker KR Ramesh Kumar quit, pre-empting any move to oust him. The BSY government will be in place for at least six months as a no-confidence motion cannot be moved prior to that period.

Soon after the trust vote, the assembly passed the finance bill for three months along with the supplementary budget, clearing the way for payment of government salaries and bills. Immediately thereafter, speaker KR Ramesh Kumar announced his resignation, pre-empting any move by BJP to move a no-confidence motion against him.

In his submission before the trust vote, Yediyurappa reiterated his stance of "forget and forgive" and assured the opposition that he would not do vendetta politics for the remainder of his term of three years and 10 months.

The CM said his topmost priority was to bring the administration back on track, claiming it had been derailed in the past 14 months. Strongly reacting to the statement, Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy said it was a "baseless" allegation. Kumaraswamy said Yediyurappa must provide evidence in the House as to how the administration was derailed.

The two leaders, who were at the centre of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government, said Yediyurappa was seeking a trust vote to form an undemocratic government. "I strongly condemn the trust vote sought by Yediyurappa as the BJP government is unconstitutional and undemocratic," said Siddaramaiah.

Kumaraswamy alleged that BJP continued to "engineer" more resignations. "I know that you (BJP) are still trying to force more of our MLAs to resign. Let them be in peace and concentrate on your own government."



In Video: BS Yediyurappa wins trust vote in Karnataka assembly