BENGALURU: Senior Congress leader and Legislative Council member Salim Ahmed was elected Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council on Friday.
Pro-tem Chairman Puttanna announced that 38 members voted in favour of Ahmed, while 30 voted against him.
The election followed several proposals for the post. Congress member B K Hariprasad first proposed Ahmed’s name, which was supported by Leader of the House Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah. Members N S Bosaraju, Manjunath Bhandari, A Nagaraj Yadav and Ivan D’Souza also proposed his name. Vinay Karthik Prakash, Vasanth Kumar, Dr D Thimmaiah and F H Jakkappa Navar seconded the proposals.
Opposition Leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy proposed P H Pujar for the post, with JD(S) member S L Bhojegowda seconding the proposal.
Of the seven proposals received, five were in favour of Ahmed. The proposals were put to a vote, following which Ahmed was declared elected after securing a majority.
Leader of the House Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Opposition Leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy and Congress member B K Hariprasad escorted Ahmed to the Chairman’s chair and congratulated him.
Congratulating Ahmed, Hariprasad said he had begun his political journey as a student leader in 1983 and had risen to become Chairman of the Council. He also said former Chairman Basavaraj Horatti was requested to resign by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar in view of the numbers in the House.
"There were option to move a no confidence motion or appealing Horatti resign and CM told that we (Congress) should ask Horatti to offer his resignation," he said in the House.
Opposition members S L Bhoje Gowda and C R Ravi also congratulated Ahmed and urged him to take the Opposition into confidence and ensure impartiality during discussions and proceedings in the House.