Ahead of floor-test, BS Yeddyurappa resigns as Karnataka Chief Minister

Bengaluru: Minutes ahead of the floor test, B S Yeddyurappa resigned as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Yeddyurappa will now submit his resignation to Governor Vajubhai Vala.

The Governor will now call the second largest party, which is Congress and Janata Dal Secular alliance, to form the government in the state. 

Yeddyurappa was the chief minister for barely 55 hours, after a Supreme Court order truncated the 15-day window the Governor gave him to prove majority. 

These are the LIVE updates from Karnataka:

4:05 pm: B S Yeddyurappa resigns as the Chief Minister of Karnataka ahead of the floor test.

04:05 pm: "I will lose nothing if I lose power, my life is for the people," B S Yeddyurappa ahead of floor test

04:03 pm: "We will get 28 out of 28 seats in Lok Sabha," B S Yeddyurappa ahead of floor test.

04:02 pm: "If only people would have given us 113 seats instead of 104, we would have made this state (Karnataka) a paradise: B S Yeddyurappa ahead of  floor test

03:52 pm: "I have traveled throughout the state for the last two years and have seen pain on the faces of people. I can't forget the love and affection I received from people," says B S Yeddyurappa ahead of the floor test.

03:50 pm: "People have blessed us with 104 seats. The mandate wasn't for Congress or JD(S),"  Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa ahead of floor test.

03:42 pm: Congress MLAs Anand Singh and Pratap Gowda Patil, who were said to be missing, take oath as an MLA in Karnataka's Vidhana Soudha.

Watch live session of Karnataka Assembly where floor test will begin shortly:

03:27 pm: Somashekara Reddy, BJP MLA and brother of Janardan Reddy said, "I was with my brother in Taj West End. Nobody was in my contact. I don't even know who are they, Anand Singh and Pratap Gowda Patil (Congress MLAs). I did not even go to Goldfinch Hotel." 

03:14 pm: Visuals of Congress MLA Pratap Gowda Patil, who was said to be missing, entering Vidhana Soudha.

03:01 pm: Union Minister Ananth Kumar and Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa are present in the CM chamber in Vidhana Soudha.

02:51 pm: Congress MLA Pratap Gowda Patil having lunch at Vidhana Soudha, Congress's D K Suresh and Dinesh Gundu Rao present with him.

Photo: ANI | Twitter

02:39 pm: "Pratap Gowda Patil has come. He will take oath as an MLA then he will vote for the Congress. He will not betray the Congress party," says DK Shivakumar of the Congress. 

02:38 pm: "I am sure he (Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa) will resign before the trust vote," says Congress' D K Shivakumar. 

01:58 pm: One of the 'missing' Congress MLA Anand Singh seen leaving Bengaluru's Goldfinch hotel.

01:27 pm: Security tightened outside Goldfinch Hotel in Bengaluru where reportedly the two 'missing' Congress MLAs are holed up. 

12:58 pm: BJP MLA G Somashekhar Reddy is with the two 'missing' Congress MLAs Anand Singh and Pratap Gouda: ANI sources

12:55 pm: VS Ugrappa, Congress said, "He (BJP's BY Vijayendra) called the wife of a Congress MLA and asked her to request her husband to vote for Yeddyurappa. He said, we'll give your husband a ministry or else we'll give Rs 15 crore to your husband."

12:30 pm: "BJP will be exposed to the whole world. They know very well that they are 104, still they are trying everything & anything to buy our MLAs. But, our MLAs are intact. Two of our MLAs are still not here, whenever they come they will surely support us," said Veerapa Moily.

11:46 am: After winning assembly elections, B Sriramulu & BS Yeddyurappa have resigned from Lok Sabha, their resignations have been accepted by the Speaker.

11:38 am: Two Congress MLAs Anand Singh and Pratap Gowda Patil have not yet come to the assembly for oath-taking.

11:30 am: "The SC heard the pleas of the Congress, all their pleas have been rejected. The desperate attempts of Congress to remove him from post has failed. I think they are scared and did not even want a floor test in the first place," said senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi. 

11:14 am: CM BS Yeddyurappa & Siddaramaiah take oath as MLAs at Vidhana Soudha.

11:12 am: Supreme Court rejects Congress-JD(S) plea challenging appointment of pro tem speaker KG Bopaiah, he will continue to be pro-tem speaker

11:09 am: Hearing on Congress-JD(S) plea challenging appointment of pro tem speaker KG Bopaiah: Supreme Court says, "Live broadcast of floor test would be the best way to ensure transparency of proceedings."

11:08 am: Hearing on Congress-JD(S) plea challenging appointment of pro tem speaker KG Bopaiah: Supreme Court says, "Law can't direct the Governor to appoint a particular person as Pro-tem Speaker. Unless convention becomes legal norm, it can't be enforced by Court."

11:06 am: Hearing on Congress-JD(S) plea challenging appointment of pro tem speaker KG Bopaiah: Kapil Sibal argues "I am requesting that don't allow KG Bopaiah to take the floor test."

11:00 am:  Inside visuals of Vidhana Soudha. Floor test to be held at 4 pm today.

Photo: ANI | Twitter

Photo: ANI | Twitter

10:58 am: Plea challenging appointment of pro tem speaker: Justice SA Bobde says, "There've been instances where senior most MLA wasn't appointed as Pro tem speaker."

Kapil Sibal replies saying, "KG Bopaiah has different history. His decision of disqualification was set aside by this Court earlier."

10:54 am: Hearing on Congress-JD(S) plea challenging appointment of pro tem speaker KG Bopaiah: Kapil Sibal says, "Long standing convention has been broken after the appointment of Bopaiah', adds "Even SC has ratified this practice in two judgments."

10:50 am: Inside visuals of Vidhana Soudha. Floor test to be held at 4 pm today.

Photo: ANI | Twitter

10:45 am: Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal to appear for Congress and JD(S), Sr Advocate Ram Jethmalani also present; AG KK Venugopal & ASG Tushar Mehta along with Sr Advocate Mukul Rohatgi to defend appointment of Pro tem speaker.

10:43 am: Hearing on Congress-JD(S) plea challenging the appointment of pro tem speaker KG Bopaiah, begins in the Supreme Court.

10:40 am: Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and other BJP MLAs arrive at Vidhan Soudha.

10:35 am: Second bus of Congress MLAs arrives at Vidhan Soudha

10:23 am: HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) said, "For me, today is not an important day, the important days will come in future. Up to 4 pm, BJP will try to poach our MLAs. All the MLAs are together, no one is going to go to the other side. None of our MLAs are trapped. Siddaramaiah and I will go together."

Photo: ANI | Twitter

10:20 am: Congress MLAs leave from Hotel Hilton for Vidhan Soudha 

10:07 am: Bus carrying BJP MLAs arrives at Shangri-La hotel in Bengaluru for the party legislature meeting

09:58 am: Siddaramaiah arrives at Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru

Photo: ANI | Twitter

09:20 am: Ramalinga Reddy on Congress MLA Anand Singh who was missing said, "Physically he is not with us but he is in contact with our leaders. He has to come to Vidhana Soudha today. He will definitely vote for us. He is with us. He will come back."

09:10 am: KG Bopaiah, the pro-tem speaker, at Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru. The Supreme Court on Saturday morning will first hear whether BJP lawmaker KG Bopaiah is qualified to be the temporary speaker or not.  

Photo: ANI | Twitter

09:00 am: Visuals of security outside Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru

Photo: ANI | Twitter

08:45 am: Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Numbers are against the BJP. Numbers are in favor of us. MLAs are in our favour. We will form the government in the Karnataka Assembly today."

08:40 am: On Saturday morning, Karnataka Congress and JD(S) MLAs who were shifted to Hyderabad, to avoid poaching of MLAs, reached Bengaluru ahead of the floor test.

08:32 am: A confident Yeddyurappa said, "100 per cent I am going to have absolute majority. Tomorrow I am going to take all that decision which I promised to the people of Karnataka."

08:30 am:  Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa arrived at Shangri-La hotel for the party legislature meeting on Saturday morning. He will soon leave for the Assembly where the trust vote is set to take place later in the day.