Karnataka trust vote put off again, speaker sets Tuesday 6 pm deadline for trust vote

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 23 (ANI): After a heated debate which continued till midnight, the Karnataka assembly was adjourned till Tuesday without voting on the confidence motion moved by chief minister H D Kumaraswamy five days ago.
Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar set 6 p.m. on Tuesday as the deadline to complete the voting, amid angry objections by the BJP.
"By 6 pm tomorrow the floor test will be done," said Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar.
"Tomorrow we will finish the floor test after some of our members speak. By 4 pm tomorrow we will finish the discussion, by 6 pm we will finish the floor test," said Siddaramaiah, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Meanwhile, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Karnataka High Court on Monday alleging that the trust vote was deliberately being delayed in the state Assembly. Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court had refused to grant an early hearing on a plea by two Independent legislators in Karnataka seeking a direction to conclude the floor test by 5 pm today.
The Congress-JDS government slumped into a minority earlier this month following the resignation of several dissident MLAs. Sixteen MLAs from the ruling coalition including thirteen Congress and three JD(S) MLAs have resigned.
The state Assembly has 225 members, including one nominated MLA. The halfway mark in the 225-member Assembly is 113. (ANI)