The Supreme Court’s decision to slash the 15-day window given to BJP Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove majority showed Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala had favoured the saffron party and he was at fault, the Shiv Sena said on Saturday.

It also alleged that BJP with its “money and muscle power”, it may win over some Congress and JD(S) MLAs to prove majority in the southern state.

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“The Karnataka power play reached the corridors of the Supreme Court, which virtually nullified the governor’s decision. Despite the BJP not having the clear majority, governor Vajubhai Vala hurriedly invited it to form the government and gave it 15 days time to prove majority,” the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

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“But the SC reduced the 15-day window and ordered it to be done within 24 hours. This shows that the governor had granted extra favours to Yeddyurappa. The SC decision of drastically slashing the 15-day window shows that the governor was at fault,” the write-up added.

Meanwhile, the suspense surrounding the floor test is on, The MLAs of the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (Secular) have reached the Karnataka Assembly to participate in the floor test that will take place at 4 pm, as ruled by the Supreme Court. The proceedings began with the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected legislators.

Both the sides — Congress-JDS and BJP — have been claiming that they have the numbers to prove majority in the House.

As the Karnataka threw up a hung Assembly, the Congress and JD(S) didn’t waste much time in stitching up a post-poll alliance hoping a re-run of Goa, where the Governor had invited a post-poll alliance to form the government.

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According to media reports, two Congress MLAs – Anand Singh and Pratap Gowda Patil – and BJP MLA Somashekhar Reddy have not come to the Assembly for oath-taking yet.

The current attendance in the House for now stands at — JDS has all 37 present, Congress has 76, and BJP 103.

The absence of three MLAs will automatically bring down the House number to 219 and the mark to prove majority will also reduced to 110.

Among the MLAs who took oath were Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and ex-CM Siddaramaiah.

(With agency inputs)