K'taka Guv submits report to President on legislature joint session drama
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has submitted a detailed report to President Droupadi Murmu over the developments in connection with the joint session of the state legislature recently that saw a row erupt over his customary address to the Legislative Assembly and Council, official sources said on Saturday.
According to sources, the governor's report covers the developments on January 22, the day of the joint session, and the previous day -- when a government delegation led by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil met him, following Gehlot's refusal to deliver the customary address.
Gehlot consulted legal experts ahead of sending the report, they added.
High drama played out in Karnataka Assembly on Thursday when the governor refused to read out the state-prepared address to a joint session of the state legislature and confined his speech to just three lines, evoking sharp reaction from the Congress government in the state.
Gehlot took exception to certain references to the Centre "repealing" the UPA-era MGNREGA in the state-prepared speech.
A total of 10 paragraphs, which had critical reference to the Centre and its policies, touching upon the MGNREGA and issues including devolution of funds were said to have irked the governor, who wanted them to be deleted. But, this was not acceptable to the government.
According to the sources, the governor in his report has told the President that he had suggested the state government to "modify" the draft speech by removing paras which criticised the central government for enacting the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, and also about its impact.
Gehlot has also detailed in the report, the action taken by him to address the joint session as per the Constitutional mandate.
The behavior of the ruling Congress party members, who shouted slogans and tried to gherao him during his exit from the Assembly hall, and reactions of leaders of both ruling Congress and opposition BJP in the aftermath, have also been detailed in the report, official sources added.
As the Governor ended his address with three lines on January 22, the treasury benches, including ministers such as H K Patil, stood up and requested Gehlot to complete the speech.
As Gehlot proceeded towards the exit door, some ruling legislators, including MLC B K Hariprasad, tried to gherao him by shouting slogans. They were removed by the security staff.
The Congress government had accused Gehlot of "violating the Constitution" by refusing to read the state-prepared address to the joint session of the legislature and confining his customary speech to just three lines.
It also accused him of "disrespecting the national anthem" by walking out of the House before it was played and demanded that he apologise to the people of the state and the Assembly.
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Trump says he ‘hasn’t even thought about’ continuing Iran ceasefire
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he has not yet considered whether he would continue the ceasefire involving Iran, while also claiming the United States holds the advantage in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was prepared to make a deal with “whoever is running the show” in Iran.
“They are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership in many cases. I think they’re fighting not to be leader because we knocked out two levels of leaders,” he said.
Trump added, “When they want they can call me. We have all the cards, we’ve won everything.”
Referring to ongoing negotiations, he said, “They gave us a paper that should’ve been better. And, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it [envoy trip to Pakistan], within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better.”
“We talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon, very simple … They offered a lot, but not enough,” he added.
When asked whether he would continue the ceasefire, Trump replied, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The remarks come as uncertainty remains over the future of the temporary truce and broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
