A different kind of ‘floor test’: Karnataka BJP MLAs spend the night in Assembly

The Karnataka political crisis took a rather peculiar turn on Thursday as about 100 BJP legislators decided to sleep in the Karnataka Assembly to protest against the delay in the floor test. This came after Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy moved a trust motion on Thursday to prove that his Congress-JD-S coalition government has the majority. Legislators stayed overnight in the Assembly to ensure that the floor test is conducted on Friday by 1.30 pm as Governor Vajubhai Vala directed. 

 

As many of them didn't have pillows and bedsheets, some rebels bought them from nearby shops to sleep on the floor on bedsheets and rest their heads on soft pillows for a sound sleep. The legislators decided to go back to the resort or their rooms in the adjacent Legislature Home on early Friday and return to the Assembly for the session from 11 am to resume the inconclusive debate on the motion. With the Governor writing to the Chief Minister to prove majority in the House by 1.30 p.m. on Friday, uncertainty continues to dog the legislators. Here’s a look at the legislators at their ‘slumber party.’