BENGALURU: Elected by the previous government and at risk of being ‘packed off’, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Ramesh Kumar announced his resignation on Monday, moments after the confidence motion in favour of BS Yediyurappa was cleared and the Finance bill was passed. But Kumar, who cut short the speech of D K Shivakumar, stating that he had to leave for Hyderabad and the funeral of former Union minister Jaipal Reddy, gave a speech in his trademark style, touching upon his selection as Speaker and his views on the current state of politics in Karnataka.
‘’I have performed my duty according to my conscience. I will not succumb to any pressure nor have I the nature of putting pressure on others,’’ he said. He said that he was under no illusions that he had created history by disqualifying 17 MLAs. He also spoke of corruption and the electoral process and said that one needed only a heart to fight this and nothing more. On his elevation to the post, Kumar said that it was Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary K C Venugopal who spoke to him and urged him to accept the post, with Siddaramaiah’s approval.
Kumar also addressed the issue of nepotism in his 14-minute long speech and said, “‘Democratic values diminish when political parties destroy their structural form and indulge in advancing personal and family interests. No one needs to point out how many family members are in politics,” he said.
In the state, political families exist in all three major political parties. While the JDS has H D Devegowda, H D Kumaraswamy, his wife Anita and brother Revanna, the Congress has Siddaramaiah and his son Yathindra, D K Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh, Ramalinga Reddy and his daughter Sowmya and the BJP has Yediyurappa and his son B Y Raghavendra. Finally, on Yediyurappa, Kumar said, “However good you are, the moment you come to power, power-hungry people will surround you. Irrespective of who is in power, Siddaramaiah or Kumaraswamy, such people surround them.’’ He then said that Yediyurappa had a chance to do good as the Chief Minister and asked him to use this effectively. The outgoing Speaker said, ‘’I resigned today as a befitting tribute to Jaipal Reddy. I resigned so I should get liberated from all shackles.’’ He was one of the pallbearers carrying the mortal remains of his friend Jaipal Reddy.