12 Karnataka BJP MLAs take oath

Bengaluru, December 22

A dozen ruling BJP’s newly-elected members and an Independent MLA took oath as legislators at the state secretariat (Vidhan Soudha), an official said on Sunday.

“Assembly Speaker VH Kageri administered the oath to all 12 BJP members and an Independent who were elected to the lower house in the December 5 by-elections from their constituencies,” BJP’s state unit G Madhusudana said.

The BJP and Opposition Congress contested all 15 Assembly seats, while the regional party Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) did in 12 but drew a blank.

The by-elections were necessitated due to the disqualification of the 14 Congress and three JD-S rebel legislators after they resigned from their assembly seats in mid-July in protest against the former coalition government’s poor functioning.

Byelections to two Assembly seats to Muski in Raichur district and RR Nagar (Bengaluru southwest) have been withheld due to litigation in the Karnataka High Court over their results in the May 2018 assembly elections.

Victory in 12 of the 15 Assembly seats increased the ruling party’s strength to 117 from 105, including the Speaker in the 223-member House, with one as an Independent.

With 112 members as the halfway mark for simple majority, the BJP government will be able to continue in the southern state for over three years till the five-year term of the present Assembly lapses in May 2023.

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, state home minister Basavaraj Bommai and state education minister Suresh Kumar were among the party leaders who were present on the occasion. — IANS