BENGALURU: Congress Legislative Party leader Siddaramaiah and KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao on Wednesday objected to ‘rebel’ MLA Umesh Jadhav’s resignation letter dated March 4. They petitioned Speaker Ramesh Kumar afresh on Wednesday, asking him to give them an opportunity to show that the Chincholi MLA’s resignation was “not genuine and voluntary” and that they would like to place documents before the Speaker at the time of the hearing.
They requested the Speaker to consider that the disqualification petition was filed much before the resignation, and “till the disqualification petition is decided, the decision on the resignation of Umesh Jadhav may be deferred’’. They alternatively requested the Speaker that if he takes up the resignation petition, then he should take up both the disqualification and resignation issues together.
They alleged that in spite of the consequences being explained to Jadhav officially, he chose to absent himself on January 18 and February 8, and had sought to destabilize the government by switching to the BJP. They said Jadhav’s resignation letter was not in the proper format.
‘How long, Mr Speaker?’
The delay on the part of the Speaker in accepting Jadhav’s resignation has irked the BJP no end. BJP leader K S Eshwarappa made an acerbic observation, “Speaker Ramesh Kumar quoted shlokas and spoke as if he is a little less learned than Valmiki (author of Ramayana), how long does he need to take a decision?” It may be recalled that Ramesh Kumar had said on Monday that this was the first time such a case had come before him, and he needed more time to decide on the issue.
He had also asked Jadhav to file a more detailed affidavit. Jadhav, who quit the Congress and joined the BJP at Kalaburagi on March 6 at a rally, had received a notice from the Speaker, asking to meet him on March 12, but Kumar was himself not present.
Jadhav had again attempted to meet him twice — on March 13 and 15 — but failed. It may be recalled that the Speaker had issued notice following a complaint by Congress leader Siddaramaiah seeking that Umesh Jadhav be disqualified. Former minister and former Chincholi MLA Vaijanath Patil also questioned the Speaker’s action.