Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala on May 18 appointed former Speaker K.G. Bopaiah as the pro-tem Speaker. He will be conducting the floor test on Saturday at 4 p.m., as mandated by the Supreme Court. Mr. Bopaiah was elected to the Assembly in the 2018 elections from the Virajpet constituency.
Mr. Bopaiah, an RSS worker and a four-time MLA, was the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 2009 to 2013, a very controversial term at that. Even the Supreme Court made strong observations on a floor test he conducted in October 2010.
In October 2010, when then Chief Minister Yeddyurappa faced a trust vote Speaker Bopaiah, disqualified five independent MLAs and 11 BJP ones , for rebelling against the Chief Minister. The trust vote was also chaotic and his choice of voice vote had come under huge criticism. While the Speaker’s decision on disqualification of MLAs was upheld by the Karnataka High Court in February 2011, the Supreme Court later quashed the disqualification of MLAs making strong observations on the Speaker that he acted in “hot haste” and the proceedings he conducted on the disqualification application filed by Mr. Yeddyurappa did not meet the twin tests of natural justice and fair play.
