Oppn slams Cong govt as ministers skip Legislative Council for protest
Belagavi (PTI): Labelling the Congress government in Karnataka "irresponsible", the opposition BJP and JD(S) on Wednesday accused the ruling party members of skipping the Legislative Council proceedings to participate in a protest here and wasting valuable House time.
As the House commenced for the day, the treasury benches were vacant, with Minister Satish Jarkiholi being the sole representative of the government present.
This irked the opposition members, who accused the Congress government of "insulting" the House and also the people of the state, especially those from north Karnataka, as the issues concerning the region are under discussion during the Winter session in Belagavi.
The ruling Congress on Wednesday morning staged a protest against the central government's move to replace the existing rural employment law MGNREGA, and alleged "hate politics" against the party leadership in the National Herald case, in front of Gandhi state at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha premises here.
Leader of Opposition Chalavadi Narayanaswamy questioned the government's ethics.
"Look at the irresponsibility of the government, the ruling party members including Ministers and the leader of the House are not present. If this is their conduct, will they do justice to the north Karnataka region?"
JD(S) MLC Saravana said the opposition has requested for the session to be continued for one more week to discuss key issues concerning north Karnataka.
"The session had to convene at 10 am. No minister is present in the House, who will answer? Who do we have to question? Why is the session called?" he asked.
Narayanaswamy too said the opposition has requested to continue the session for one more week, as no issues including those relating to north Karnataka have been discussed properly in the House.
"But the government is wasting the time. It is showing irresponsibility. Neither the leader of the House, nor Ministers or ruling party members are present in the House. What kind of conduct is this? Such conduct puts politicians in a bad light. Do we need this? The situation is such that we have to face the ire of the people having come for the winter session in Belagavi," he said.
Noting that about Rs 30 crore is spent for the session, the opposition leader said, "this is public money. Should it be wasted like this? Doesn't this government have responsibility? For trivial issues this (protest) is being done. Will the government protest? If the government behaves this way, what will others do? We condemn this conduct of this government."
Opposition chief whip and MLC N Ravi Kumar termed the conduct of the government a "betrayal" of north Karnataka. "The government lacks seriousness when issues concerning north Karnataka are being raised and discussed. This is an irresponsible government."
BJP MLC Bharathi Shetty said the House was convened 30 minutes late, still no one is present from the government side. "Down Down for this government. They are wasting public money and time."
JD(S) MLC Bhojegowda said, everyone has the right to protest, but the ruling party and the government is well aware that the House has to convene at 10 am, but still they are protesting outside.
"You could have protested at 8 am... But, wasting the time of the House in the name of protest is not right. The session has been called in Belagavi to discuss development and issues concerning north Karnataka. Forgetting all this, they are sitting there. Only one Minister (Satish Jarkiholi)is present in the House, another Minister (Ramaling Reddy) is coming now. What is important for you-- session or protest?" he questioned.
Bhojegowda and Ravi Kumar called the government's conduct "irresponsible and insulting" the House and the Chair.
Intervening, Narayanaswamy said, "this government is lost. We have to give advertisements in the papers saying the government is lost, please search or find it."
"We will also boycott the House in protest against the conduct of this government. We will walk out. This is an insult to the House, the chair and the people of north Karnataka. This government has betrayed the people, it (the government) is dead," he said.
Defending the government, Minister Ramalinga Reddy said, "we had a protest... Prime Minister himself doesn't go to parliament, but goes abroad when Parliament is in session."
As this led to strong objection from BJP members, leading to chaos, Deputy Chairman M K Pranesh adjourned the House for some time.
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Congress misleading public on National Herald case, matter still in court: BJP
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress of running misleading propaganda over the trial court's decision in the National Herald case and said the court refused to take cognisance of the complaint but did not set aside the case.
The case is still pending trial in the Delhi High Court, and the trial court in its order on Tuesday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can continue its investigation, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asserted.
"The court yesterday (Tuesday) said that since it is a private complaint and no FIR has been lodged, it will not take cognizance of it. It's a technical matter. The court also said that ED can continue its investigation further. The court did not set it aside," Bhatia told a press conference at the BJP headquarters here
"Its trial is still going on. Sonia Gandhi is still Accused Number-1 and Rahul Gandhi Accused Number-2," the BJP spokesperson said, alleging, "The Gandhi family thrives on deceit, deception, and propaganda."
