The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Special session of legislature today, likely to be stormy

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Monday, Nov 19, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Special session of legislature today, likely to be stormy

Special Correspondent

Voting on motion of confidence, if called for, will be completed by 6 p.m.

Congress may go all out against Government
Governor wanted floor test to be completed the same day

Bangalore: The special session of the 12th Assembly convened on Monday to enable the first Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition Government in the State to prove its majority is expected to be stormy given the brittle nature of the relationship between the BJP and the Janata Dal (S). The Congress as the other major party will be keen on taking advantage of the situation.

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Krishna, told The Hindu that the voting on the motion of confidence, if called for, would be completed by 6 p.m. At no cost would the discussion be permitted to spill over to a second day as Governor Rameshwar Thakur is firm that the floor test should be completed the same day.

The special session is expected to stand out in several ways. The Ministers of the coalition partner (Janata Dal-S) are yet to be sworn-in and the BJP itself has a total of only five Ministers, including the Chief Minister. None of them has been allotted portfolios, as the power-sharing arrangements between the two parties is yet to be finalised.

The Assembly is first expected to mourn the demise of the former Chief Minister, S.R. Bommai.

Thereafter, the discussion on the motion of confidence would be taken up with each political party allotted a specified time. A decision has also been taken to convey to the floor leaders of all the political parties that they should refrain from a political discussion like the kind witnessed when the Dharam Singh Government faced a similar situation in January 2006.

Sources said the differences between the BJP and the Janata Dal (S) over a power-sharing arrangement will be the highlight of the discussion.

Legislative Assembly secretariat sources said Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had already sent his notice seeking to move the motion of confidence. The one-line motion reads: “This House expresses its confidence in the Council of Ministers headed by B.S. Yeddyurappa.”

The former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said he would use the Assembly platform to air his views on all the discussions between the two coalition partners.

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