BENGALURU: The Assembly on Monday witnessed a strange scene as Speaker UT Khader adjourned the House and walked out, expressing anger over ministers not replying to questions raised by legislators. Khader stated that he will not run the House till the ministers and secretaries provide an explanation.
Khader, who had been warning the government against the misdemeanour of ministers, expressed his displeasure in strongest of terms, which some legislators termed “unprecedented”.
Khader’s action followed Home Minister G Parameshwara tabling 84 replies against 239 unstarred questions submitted by MLAs. When angry BJP members raised the issue, Khader said he has been talking about this for the last four days.
No improvement, says Khader on ministers not coming on time
“The sessions are not conducted for ministers, but for legislators, who can raise issues. Sessions are conducted once in three months and problems being faced in MLAs’ constituencies have to be discussed,” Khader said. “There is a limit of 15 starred questions per day, while the remaining are treated as unstarred. MLAs ask questions as per rules, but what should they do if they don’t get replies? Then MLAs are blamed for not attending the House. The Assembly cannot run without quorum, but ministers too don’t come on time. I have warned them four times, but I see no improvement,” he said.
LoP R Ashoka said it is for the first time in history that the Speaker walked out of the House feeling helpless. “The reason for this is the arrogance and irresponsibility of ministers. If the government fails to provide answers to questions raised by MLAs, does it have any moral right to remain in power,’’ he asked.
The walkout by the Speaker is not just a matter of shame, but a betrayal of people’s mandate in the democratic system. The Congress ecosystem that travels across the country, shouting, “Democracy is in danger” cannot even respect the most basic parliamentary responsibility in the state it governs, he said.
Slamming opposition leader in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, he said Rahul lectures the nation on constitutional values and accountability. But in Karnataka, his own party ministers treat the Assembly with such arrogance that they don’t answer simple questions from elected representatives.
Later in the day, Parameshwara said the government has taken the issue seriously and will ensure things are set right.
