BELAGAVI: Congress members of the Legislative Council on Friday moved a privilege motion against two senior IPS officers from Belagavi for preventing them from entering the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha (SVS) on tractors on Thursday. Accepting the privilege motion, Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti referred it to the Privileges Committee and asked the members to take up the issue after the winter session.
Opposition leader in the Council, S R Patil, came down heavily on senior IPS officers IGP (Northern Range) Satish Kumar and Belagavi City Police Commissioner Dr K Thiyagarajan for preventing them from entering the Soudha even after they received orders from the Home and Law and Parliamentary Affairs ministers.
“The police officers made Congress members wait for at least three hours outside the Soudha. This led to breach of privilege of the legislators. Being IPS officers, they don’t have the basic knowledge about the rights of elected members,” fumed Patil. “The Chairman is the custodian of legislators when the session is on. These are uncivilised police officers. I demand the government to take stringent against them,” he added. JDS MLC Marithibbegowda also demanded stringent action against the police officers.
Sports minister slammed
Heated arguments broke out between Congress MLCs and Youth Empowerment and Sports Minister Dr K C Narayana Gowda and other BJP MLCs. When SR Patil said that they have the right to come to the Soudha in any vehicle, including tractors and bullock carts, Narayangowda asked “Why don’t they come to Soudha in tractors daily?”
Irked, Patil said, “A minister who disrespects the vehicles of farmers is unfit to be a minister. It is a black mark on the government.” The Congress members jumped into the well demanding an apology from the minister. However, Chairman Horatti and floor leader Kota Srivinivas Poojary pacified the members.