Karnataka: Assembly begins ahead of floor test

The Karnataka State Assembly session has begun at the Vidhana Soudha on Friday.

The session marks an important one, as newly-elected Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will be required to prove his majority on the floor of the house, backed by the Congress-Janata Dal (United) alliance.

Prior to the session, Kumaraswamy expressed confidence in gaining a clear majority.

"I have no tension. I am going to win clearly," he told ANI earlier today.

After Karnataka BJP President B.S Yeddyurappa, it is now Congress-JD(S) alliance's turn to take the floor test.

Yeddyurappa was sworn-in as chief minister last week; however, before taking the floor test, he resigned as the BJP had only 104 MLAs, seven short of simple majority mark of 111 in the 221-member assembly.

While the BJP, which was the single-largest party in the fractured mandate, was given 15 days to prove their majority on the floor of the house, the Supreme Court in an interim order directed the floor test to be held in just two days, even after Yeddyurappa had taken oath as the Chief Minister of the state.

Following Yeddyurappa's resignation, on May 23, Kumaraswamy was sworn-in as the 24th chief minister of Karnataka, marking the beginning of the JD(S)-Congress alliance, which has 115 MLAs.

Meanwhile, an election for the post of the speaker of the assembly is expected to be held prior to the floor test.

The BJP has fielded senior leader S Suresh Kumar against Congress' Ramesh Kumar.