BENGALURU: The Assembly on Wednesday witnessed a pandemonium when a debate on the alleged scarcity of fertilisers turned ugly with ruling Congress and opposition BJP members indulging in ‘personal’ attacks and addressing each other in singular. Speaker UT Khader called both parties to his chambers for a conciliation meeting. When the House reconvened, Khader and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah advised legislators from both parties to introspect, display discipline and uphold the dignity of the House.
The trouble broke out when deputy leader of opposition Arvind Bellad presented the numbers on the supply of fertilisers by the Centre, terming it adequate, which was rejected by Agriculture Minister N Cheluvaraya Swamy.
Energy Minister KJ George called Bellad’s claim a lie and he was joined by Congress MLAs. Senior BJP leader Dr CN Ashwath Narayana intervened and said George did not reply to allegations of a scam in the smart meter supply in his department. “He (George) is inefficient. He failed to reply to corruption charges in smart meter supplies. Let him speak on that first,” he said.
Losing his temper, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar hit back at Ashwath Narayana and it soon descended into an exchange of heated arguments, even as the two addressed each other in singular and termed the other “father of corruption”. Immediately, members from both sides stood up from their chairs and started shouting, calling each other ‘corrupt’. Appaji Nadagouda, who was in the Speaker’s chair, adjourned the House.
After the reconciliation meeting and resumption of the House, Siddaramaiah said, “Everyone from both sides, ruling and opposition parties, should introspect. They should not speak in a way that hurts others. I appeal to both sides to indulge in constructive criticism which we welcome. But use of unparliamentary words to settle personal scores is not correct.” But Shivakumar asserted that he didn’t want any advice from the opposition.
“Any person with self-respect will not tolerate this slur. I had worked under George when I was a Youth Congress taluk president and he was state president. If I keep quiet even after seeing this insult to my leader, I will prove myself to be inefficient. It’s my duty to stand by him as I am party president as well. My usage of words may be wrong. But I too am human,” he said.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka suggested to Shivakumar not to lose temper as he has the acclaimed DCM post. “The Karnataka legislature stands apart and has no comparison to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The ruling party should have patience to take on issues raised by opposition parties,” he advised.
Bellad’s claim
Deputy opposition leader Arvind Bellad said the state government’s indent to the Centre was 11.17 lakh tonnes of fertilisers (urea). On prorata basis, the state required 7.6 lakh tonnes by August 2025, while the Centre supplied 9.7 lakh tonnes. But Cheluvaraya Swamy said the Centre still has to supply 2.23 lakh tonnes.
“Many requests to the Centre did not yield result and Union Minister for Fertilisers JP Nadda did not give an appointment. But I have spoken to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ten times and he responded positively each time,” he claimed.
Despite short supplies from the Centre, the state has tackled the situation effectively, he claimed. Not convinced, Ashoka said the state government failed to manage the supplies, though adequate, from the Centre. After that, he led the opposition walkout.