Bengaluru, May 18: Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala on Friday appointed BJP legislator K.G. Bopaiah as Karnataka Assembly's Pro-Tem Speaker for administering oath to all newly elected legislators on Saturday ahead of the floor test directed by the Supreme Court, a party official said.

"The Governor appointed and administered the oath to Bopaiah as the Pro-Tem Speaker at the Raj Bhavan," BJP Spokesman Vamanacharya told IANS here.

Bopaiah, 62, is a three-time legislator from Virajpet seat in Kodagu region, 260 km from Bengaluru. He was Speaker during the Bharatiya Janata Party rule in the state from 2008-13.

All newly-elected legislators will be administered oath in the Assembly premises.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ordered the floor test in Assembly at 4 p.m. on Saturday. 

In the May 12 elections held in 222 constituencies across the state, 104 seats were won by the BJP, Congress (78), JD-S (37), one by independent, one by Bahujan Samaj Party and one by regional Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party.

Though the JD-S won 37 seats, its effective strength is 36 since its state President H.D. Kumaraswamy won from Channapatna and Ramanagara segments but has only one vote. 

 

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Ahmedabad (PTI): The Ahmedabad police have arrested a 29-year-old man who allegedly posed as a senior revenue official and used fake letters claiming to be from various government departments to cheat people, an official said on Sunday.

Mehul Shah, an engineer who manages two schools at Vankaner in Gujarat’s Morbi district, is accused of making lakhs of rupees with bogus documents and false claims, said inspector (crime branch) JK Makwana.

Shah had forged an appointment letter from the Ahmedabad district education officer (DEO) to offer a computer operator’s job in a government office to a complainant’s son. He also introduced himself as a trustee of a school and did not pay a man Rs 7 lakh due to him over the painting of a school building, the official said.

“Despite holding no official position in the state or central government, he used fake work permits and NOCs to cheat people of lakhs of rupees,” the police official said.

One complainant alleged that Shah identified himself as a top revenue department official and produced a fake letter from the chairman of the “department of science and research development” to make him install a siren and curtain in a hired vehicle but did not pay for the job, he said.

Bogus letters claiming to be from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ahmedabad DEO were used by the accused to cheat the complainants, the police official said.

Police have recovered from his possession fake identity cards and letters with headings like “bharat gaurav ratna shri samman council”, “chairman of department of science and research development”, “health and family welfare department”, and “road and building department”.

“The FIR is based on complaints by three victims. We appeal to the people to come forward and submit their complaints if they have been cheated by Shah in any way,” Makwana said.