BENGALURU: The ruling BJP’s apprehension over Anti-Cow Slaughter Bill being referred to the Select Committee is said to be one of the reasons for the party’s insistence on taking up the no-confidence motion against the Legislative Council chairman first, before the House went ahead with other subjects listed for the day.
The tussle over the no-confidence motion led to unprecedented and unruly scenes, forcing adjournment of the House within 40 minutes of convening and without transacting any business on Tuesday.
“We were aware of the Congress’ plans to get the bill referred to the Select Committee after it was tabled in the Council. Once that is done, the government would not be able to issue an ordinance,” said a senior BJP leader.
“If the bill is defeated, it can again be taken back to the Assembly and passed, or an ordinance can be issued. But the Congress wanted to get it referred to the Select Committee,” he said.
The bill was earlier passed in the Assembly and was to be tabled in the Council on Tuesday. After the Council was adjourned sine die, the government has decided to issue an ordinance. Congress members too said that they were planning to demand that the chairman refer the bill to the select committee.
“The idea was to allow all the stakeholders to have a discussion. This is the worst piece of legislation and can be misused. All aspects of the bill need to be looked into in detail in consultation with all the stakeholders, including farmers,” said senior Congress leader and MLC B K Hariprasad.“They are trying to thrust their political agenda on the people,” he said, and accused BJP members of trying to prevent the Council Chairman from entering the House.
Leader of Opposition in the Council S R Patil said that Governor Vajubhai Vala should take action against BJP members for their unruly conduct. “The Deputy Chairman can sit in the chair only when the chairman directs him or when the chairman is not present. But on Tuesday, the chairman was present in his office. BJP members not only made Deputy Chairman sit in the chair, but also lowered the dignity of the House,” he said and demanded that the BJP members should be disqualified.BJP MLC Ravi Kumar accused the Chairman of acting in a partisan manner and alleged that he is consulting the Congress spokesperson for a legal opinion.