Bill making CM chancellor of RDPR varsity replacing Guv passed in Council by one vote
Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 18: The bill that proposes to replace the Karnataka Governor as chancellor of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) University with the Chief Minister, was passed in the Karnataka Legislative Council on Wednesday, by one vote.
Having passed by both houses of the legislature, the bill will now have to go before the Governor for his assent to become a law.
Leader of Opposition in the council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy opposed the bill and demanded for a division of votes during the voting on the bill. Hence, Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti arranged for row wise headcount of members both in favour of and against the bill.
The division of votes showed 26 votes in favor of the bill, and 25 against it.
The Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University (Amendment) Bill, 2024 passed by the Assembly on Tuesday, seeks to amend the 2016 Act to make provisions for the Chief Minister to be the Chancellor, and for appointment of the vice chancellor by the chancellor from the panel of three persons suggested by search committee.
The Opposition BJP-JD(S) legislators walked out of the Assembly on Tuesday after clashing with the Congress, during the passage of the Bill.
Several opposition members questioned the intention of the government in replacing the Governor as the Chancellor of the university and insisted that the field of education should not be politicised.
JD(S) MLC T A Sharavana said the move seems to be out of hate towards the Governor, and suggested that there should always be a cordial relationship between the government and the Raj Bhavan.
"What the government is going to achieve by keeping the Governor away. CM is always busy politically and administratively. Can he give enough time towards the affairs of the University?" he asked.
BJP MLC C T Ravi questioned whether the Governor was not "cooperative" towards the University's functioning? "What is the intention behind bringing this amendment that was not there when the actual bill was brought a few years ago? Why is the constitutional authority being removed from the Chancellor's post?"
Congress MLC Ivan D'Souza, while defending the bill, said, "In what way the Governor can help the university? If the CM is the chancellor, he can organise funds for the development of the university. Nowhere law stipulates that only the Governor should be the chancellor. States like Gujarat have withdrawn the Governor from Chancellorship of various universities in their state."
Replying to the discussion, RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge said, the bill was not brought with any political malintention or out of any political hatred or to have any confrontation with the Governor.
The bill has been brought in to make the university function more efficiently, to make it coordinate with the government better and, to provide better quality of education and training for youths, he added.
"I have nowhere said that the Governor was not cooperating. As we felt that this is one of the better ways to manage the university, we have brought these amendments. Show me any guidelines including the UGC guidelines which says that only the Governor should be the Chancellor. No such guideline anywhere," Kharge said, pointing out that in various states like Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh, the Governor has no role in several Universities.
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NDA, INDIA bloc MPs protest in Parl premises; BJP alleges Rahul pushed its MP
New Delhi (PTI): Ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc MPs took out separate protest marches over the Ambedkar issue on Thursday and came face to face at the Makar Dwar of the Parliament House, leading to jostling in which BJP MP Pratap Sarangi was injured.
He was taken to hospital with an injury on his forehead. BJP MPs alleged that Sarangi was pushed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha later told reporters that while he was trying to enter the Parliament House, BJP members pushed and "threatened" him.
"It is our right to enter Parliament," he said.
Nishikant Dubey of the BJP alleged that Rahul Gandhi pushed an aged parliamentarian leading to his fall and subsequent injury.
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have been adjourned following noisy protests by the Opposition seeking an apology from Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks on B R Ambedkar.
Dressed in blue, a colour associated with B R Ambedkar, INDIA bloc MPs, including the Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in the Parliament premises demanding Amit Shah's resignation for his remarks related to the chief architect of the Constitution.
BJP-led NDA parliamentarians also carried out a march within Parliament premises, raising slogans and carrying placards demanding an apology from the opposition Congress for allegedly insulting Ambedkar.
As the INDIA bloc parliamentarians came face to face with the ruling coalition MPs in front of the Makar Dar of Parliament, the two sides engaged in loud sloganeering in a bid to outdo each other.
The INDIA bloc members first staged a protest at B R Ambedkar's statue in Parliament premises, carrying posters that read 'Main Bhi Ambedkar', 'Jai Bhim' and 'Amit Shah maafi maango'.
They then took out a protest march on the Parliament premises. MPs of the Congress, DMK, RJD, SP, the Left and NCP(SP), among others, participated in the protest. Several opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K Kanimozhi, were seen wearing blue.
Earlier, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha chaired a meeting of the Congress' Lok Sabha MPs in the main committee room.
The opposition on Wednesday seized on Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on B R Ambedkar to corner the government and demanded his resignation for what they called was an insult to the architect of the Constitution.
The attack from virtually all opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, Left parties and Shiv Sena-UBT, led to the adjournment of both Houses of Parliament and prompted the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to come out in stout defence of Shah.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien has also submitted a notice to move a privilege motion against Shah in the Rajya Sabha where the home minister had said on Tuesday evening that Congress leaders would have got a place in heaven had they chanted the name of God rather than following the fashion of repeating Ambedkar's name.
The hullabaloo in Parliament also spilled onto the streets of the national capital and places as far as Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. In Delhi, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal led hundreds of supporters to gather outside the BJP office and protest noisily amid slogans "Amit Shah maafi mango, Amit Shah sharm karo".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, DMK chief M K Stalin, Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav were among those who have slammed Shah for his remarks.
