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Updated: May 31, 2020 16:45 IST

Karnataka BJP president BS Yeddyurappa on Sunday welcomed the floor test challenge by chief minister Kumaraswamy amid the ongoing political drama with the rebel MLAs threatening the derailment of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in the state.

“We have no objection to No Confidence Motion. We will wait until Monday. On Monday, we are ready to face the No Confidence Motion,” said Yeddyurappa, who hopes to come back as Karnataka chief minister.

Kumaraswamy made the announcement about seeking a trust vote on the floor of the Assembly after the Supreme Court ordered the speaker on Friday to maintain status quo on the resignations of 10 rebel MLAs of the Congress and the JD(S) till July 16.

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Earlier this week, speaking to Hindustan Times, 76-year-old Yeddyurappa said his party will not press for fresh state elections in Karnataka even as the ruling coalition was rocked by fresh defections that threatened to bring it into a minority in the assembly.

“I categorically state that there will be no elections as four years of tenure of this assembly still exists. Elections will be burden on state exchequer,” he said in an interview to Hindustan Times.

The coalition government, which has been shaky since its formation last year following a post-poll arrangement in the wake of a hung verdict, is facing a serious crisis now with 16 legislators -- 13 of the Congress and three of the JD(S) -- resigning from the Assembly. Besides, two Independent MLAs, who were made ministers recently to provide stability to the government, have quit the cabinet and withdrawn their support to the government.

DK Shivakumar, the Congress’ key troubleshooter in Karnataka, reached out on Saturday to one of the influential rebel MLAs who resigned from the assembly to get him to stay put and back the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government. MTB Nagaraj told reporters that he was reconsidering his resignation and would also try to convince another MLA - K Sudhakar - to withdraw his resignation as well.

The ruling coalition’s strength in the House is 116 (Congress 78, JD(S) 37 and BSP one), besides the speaker. With the support of the two independents, the opposition BJP has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House.

If the resignations of the 16 MLAs are accepted, the ruling coalition’s tally will be reduced to 100.