BENGALURU: Senior Congress legislators GS Patil and Saleem Ahmed filed their nominations on Thursday for the posts of Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council, respectively. The elections from the two posts will be held on Friday. While Patil is expected to be elected unopposed as Speaker to the Assembly, polls will be held for Council Chairman’s post, as the NDA has fielded PH Pujar.
Meanwhile, the BJP announced that it would boycott the election to pick the Speaker. Leader of Opposition in Assembly R Ashoka said that the BJP would continue to treat the Speaker’s chair with due respect once the election is over. “This is not a protest against the chair - it is a protest against the Congress letterhead and against this dictatorial attitude,” he said.
Ashok said the House holds sovereignty and its members have the right to elect their own presiding officer. But, he alleged, the Congress had unconstitutionally named its chosen candidate for Speaker on its own party letterhead even before the House could vote.
He accused the Congress of usurping the sovereignty of the House by starting this new practice of announcing the Speaker’s name through a party list. Although the Speaker is meant to be elected by the House, he said, the choice had effectively already been made by the party— a practice he called anti-democratic.
Ashoka further alleged confusion over the naming of the new Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Council. MLA AS Ponnanna’s name had first appeared on the party list as the nominee for Deputy Speaker, before he was thereafter appointed as CM DK Shivakumar’s political secretary. Ashok said the party had created confusion by not clarifying which of these positions was accurate, calling the entire episode, taken together, as a “murder of democracy” that went beyond the rules and procedures of the House.
The Speaker’s post became vacant after UT Khader was made minister in the DK Shivakumar’s cabinet. In the Council, Basavaraj Horatti resigned from the post of chairman. While Patil filed his papers along with Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Deputy CM Dr G Parameshwara, Social Welfare Minister KH Muniyappa and senior legislators HK Patil and KPCC chief BK Hariprasad, Saleem filed his nomination along with Shivakumar, Urban Development Minister Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah and Hariprasad.
Pujar who was fielded as NDA alliance candidate was accompanied by Chief Whip N Ravi Kumar, Leader of Opposition in the Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy and JDS MLC Sharavana.
In the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, the Congress has 135 MLAs. One seat is vacant following the demise of former minister D Sudhakar. The Congress is also supported by two Independents and the lone Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha MLA.
The BJP has 62 MLAs, while the JDS has 18. The lone Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha MLA supports the BJP, while three MLAs expelled from BJP, currently remain unattached.
Patil is expected to get the support of 137 MLAs in the Assembly. In Council, with five vacancies and one independent MLC, Congress candidate still gets a clear majority with BJP-JDS alliance having only 30 MLCs.
Speaking to reporters, Pujar said that Horatti worked honestly as the chairman, but was forced to vacate his post. “We are not thinking about winning or losing. In a democratic set up, we want to have our voice,’’ he said.
Horatti, who had earlier announced that he would resign on August 14, however, quit after CM DK Shivakumar and others visited his office. Horatti had even stated that he was hurt as he was forcibly made to resign.
Meanwhile, Ashoka alleged that although Horatti had said he would resign, Congress legislators entered his office and extracted his resignation - which the BJP leader described as another affront to the Constitution.
Yathindra is leader of Council
Protem Chairman of the Legislative Council Puttanna announced that Urban Development Minister Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah has been nominated as the Leader of the Legislative Council.
“Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah has been nominated as the Leader of the Legislative Council, as per the instructions of Chief Minister DK Shivakumar,” Puttanna said.
House pays tribute to dignitaries
Legislative Assembly and Council paid condolence to legendary singers S Janaki and Asha Bhonsle, former minister D Sudhkar, Chennamma Deve Gowda and other dignitaries who passed away recently, on Day 1 of the monsoon session of Karnataka legislature that began on Thursday. The House paid condolence to 15 dignitaries, including former ministers C Veeranna, Venkataramanappa, and Ramachandragowda and others.