BANGALORE: Wednesday, December 30, 2009, is a black letter day in the annals of Karnataka legislature, when politics took over emotions in the Legislative Assembly.
Mikes, paper weights, papers were flung around, members almost came to blows and there was total chaos. Opposition members also tried to manhandle pro-tem Speaker Yogesh Bhat, who was presiding over the election proceedings.
Thanks to the collective irate behaviour of our “honourable,” MLAs, Karnataka also joined the dubious and infamous league of states like Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, in unruly legislature proceedings.
It is unfortunate that these unsavoury incidents happened on a day when Vishnuvardhan, the doyen of Kannada cinema breathed his last and the state was mourning the death of C Ashwath on Tuesday.
The mayhem started when Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and JD(S) floor leader H D Revanna argued that it was not right on the part of the government to conduct the election when an actor of Vishnuvardhan’s stature had died.
However, the government insisted on holding the elections as per schedule as the date had been fixed by the Governor through notification.
As JD(S) member Zameer Ahmed Khan and Kakasaheb Patil of Congress rushed atop the Speaker’s podium and tried to drag Bhat out of his seat, the members of treasury bench rushed to the well and dragged them down.
Bhat then put the motion to voice vote and declared Bopaiah the new Speaker. Yeddyurappa and Information Minister Katta Subramanaya Naidu escorted Bopaiah to the Speaker’s chair, who adjourned the house sine die.
The Congress and JD(S) leaders have petitioned the Governor and asked him to set aside Bopaiah’s election as Speaker as it was done when the House was not in order.
The unruly scenes could have been avoided had the MLAs met before the Assembly was convened and charted their course of action.
Instead, the Opposition, which was hoping that the intra- party squabble in the BJP may surface again, wanted the elections postponed so that their candidate for the Speaker’s post, TB Jayachandra, could win easily.
The ruling party, too, was in no mood to hand that opportunity to the Opposition on a platter.
rajashekhara@expressbuzz.com
