‘BJP’s black sheep will win us trust vote’

Bengaluru: Others may be sceptical but not Congress Legislature Party(CLP) leader, Siddaramaiah who on Friday asserted that the Congress-JDS coalition government will win the floor test for which Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has placed a request to Speaker Ramesh Kumar.

Though this has cast doubts over the government's longevity with as many as 16 ruling coalition MLAs resigning and two Independents withdrawing support, Mr Siddaramiah claimed that the BJP was scared of the floor test because of the 'black sheep' in their party.

Speaking to reporters here, Mr Siddaramaiah said, "This is exactly why we are moving a vote of confidence motion. The BJP is afraid because they know there are black sheep in their party," he claimed and added "I do not want to disclose details but I am confident that we will win the trust vote."

 With Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy declaring on Friday his intent to seek a trust vote to prove that he still commands a majority in the Assembly, all three parties-Congress, Janata Dal(S)and BJP are working overtime to safeguard their MLAs from poaching attempts.

Assembly Speaker K. R. Ramesh Kumar has not accepted the resignations of the rebel lawmakers yet.

In the event of Mr Kumar, accepting the resignations, the coalition's previous strength of 118 will come down to 100 and the majority mark will drop from 113 to 105. The BJP has 105 members and the support of the two Independents, which takes its tally to 107.

Reports of reverse poaching on BJP MLAs have been doing the rounds.