BENGALURU: Proceedings of the Karnataka Legislative Council, which were disrupted for three consecutive days last week, were again disrupted on Tuesday.
As the House convened on Tuesday morning, chaos erupted as Opposition members demanded that the Chief Minister’s Political Adviser, MLC Naseer Ahmed, apologise for his ‘desh drohi’ (anti-national) remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while the Congress members demanded that BJP MLC CT Ravi apologise for his ‘Pakistani tongue’ remarks. Ravi said that the tongue that spoke against the PM could not be Indian. “It should be a Pakistani tongue,” Ravi said.
Opposition members supporting Ravi, shouted slogans against Naseer and said they would continue to protest till he tenders his apology.
As both sides engaged in heated arguments, Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti requested the members to cooperate to run the House and asked Nazeer to apologise.
As the fight continued, Horatti adjourned the House briefly, convened a meeting with leaders of both parties to put an end to the deadlock.
After the house resumed, Nazeer retorted that Ravi tender his apology first. Leader of the Opposition Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said that Congress members made remarks about the Karnataka Governor and have now made remarks about the PM, and that they apologise or be thrown out of the House.
Chief Whip in the Council, MLC Saleem Ahmed, demanded that Ravi apologise first.
Pointing out that he had earlier warned Naseer against giving statements about PM Modi in the House, the Chairman demanded his unconditional apology, else he would have to take action.
Naseer said he was provoked and made statements on PM, and said he regretted it. Narayanaswamy demanded that he tender an apology and not regret his statement. While Horatti tried to explain that expressing regret was as good as seeking an apology, the LoP said they want an apology.
When Horatti sought Ravi’s apology, he said that he had not taken any names in his Pakistani remarks and did not budge. The Chairman told Ravi that it was left to his conscience to apologise or not.
The House was the adjourned till Wednesday.
It may be recalled that the BJP MLCs stormed the well of the House on Monday and chanted slogans such as ‘Nazeer Ahmed Dhikhara’ (Down, Down Nazeer Ahmed), and demanded an immediate apology or penal action against the Congress member. Meanwhile, Labour Minister Santosh Lad said that the BJP members had used the same term to describe anyone from the Congress criticising them for 11 years and had used
derogatory terms against former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.