BELAGAVI: An hour’s delay in the commencement of the Assembly session was taken up by members who questioned Speaker UT Khader and also tutored him about House rules. Senior BJP member Suresh Kumar condemned the delay in starting the session without citing any legitimate reason and said, “Is this the respect you show the House?”
Seconding the BJP member, Congress MLA Basavaraj Rayaraddi cited House rules and how Parliament starts business on time. The former MP said the Speaker starts business, whether there are adequate members or not. In reply, Speaker Khader said the delay was due to valid reasons and asked members to be present in the House on time.
It is learnt that the session was delayed because Chief Minister Siddaramaiah arrived late as he was to come by road from Hubballi, after taking part in a function there.
SPARSE ATTENDANCE ON DAY 1 OF SESSION
The winter session which started on Monday, witnessed poor presence of MLAs and ministers. There were only 80 Congress legislators, 45 BJP and 10 JDS MLAs present. Among the ruling party MLAs, CM Siddara-maiah, ministers HK Patil, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, G Parameshwara, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda and others were present, as was Opposition leader R Ashoka. DyCM DK Shivakumar and minister Zameer Ahmed Khan were away in Telangana.