Protests against me with black flags, eggs 'state sponsored': Siddaramaiah
Chikkamagaluru, Aug 19: A day after eggs were hurled at his car and black flags were waved during his visit to Kodagu, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Friday termed it a "state sponsored" protest.
Alleging that those who pelted eggs at his car were from "an organisation to which Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse belonged", the senior Congress leader and former chief minister wondered whether such people will spare him, as he was speaking against them.
"Yesterday at Titimati, there were about 10 youths shouting slogans; after that at four places they had gathered, Couldn't the police have stopped it? If the Chief Minister comes, will they let people protest with black flags? Won't they carry out preventive arrests? What was wrong with the Superintendent of Police (SP)?" Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters, he said on August 26, he along with Congress workers will lay siege to the SP's office in Kodagu, alleging that there is no law and order and that the official had "wrong intentions" and had colluded with the RSS, Bajrang Dal and Sangh Parivar and had allowed the incident to happen.
"Yesterday's was a state sponsored protest...can't we do it (protest) holding black flags? Can't our workers do it for the Chief Minister of Ministers? It was an act of cowardice, they have done it when I had gone to assess rain-related damage and hear out the farmers," he added.
Alleged BJP Yuva Morcha workers and activists of Hindu groups had raised slogans like 'Kodagina Virodhi Siddaramaiah', 'Go back Siddaramaiah' and 'Hindu Virodhi' when he was in Kodagu on Thursday to visit rain-affected areas. They were protesting against his statement asking "Why put Savarkar's photo in Muslim area?"
Noting that as the Leader of Opposition, he is a "shadow Chief Minister", Siddaramaiah said it is the duty of the government to provide proper security for him.
"It shows that there is no law and order in the state...it is a corrupt, bad and communal government. In fact there is no government at all, it is dead," he alleged.
Earlier addressing an event, the Congress legislature party leader, while speaking about Thursday's incident said, "These people 'eliminated' Gandhi. Will they leave me? They killed Gandhi, Godse had shot at Gandhi, but they worship his photo."
"Yesterday they were protesting holding posters of Savarkar, they are calling a man who apologised to the British as Veer Savarkar. I don't have any personal enmity or anger against Savarkar. He was also a human being, but his conduct was not right," he said.
ರಾಜ್ಯ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಇಲಾಖೆ ಸಂಘಪರಿವಾರದ ಕೈಗೊಂಬೆಯಾಗಿದೆ.@BJP4Karnataka ಪಕ್ಷದ ಪುಂಡರ ಗೂಂಡಾಗಿರಿಗೆ ಅವಕಾಶ ನೀಡಿ, ಕೈಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡು ತಮಾಷೆ ನೋಡುವ ಪೊಲೀಸರ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ ಲೋಪ ಖಂಡಿಸಿ ಈ ತಿಂಗಳ 26 ರಂದು ಕೊಡಗಿನ ಎಸ್.ಪಿ ಕಚೇರಿಗೆ ಮುತ್ತಿಗೆ ಹಾಕುತ್ತೇವೆ.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) August 19, 2022
ಬಿಜೆಪಿಯ ಗೂಂಡಾಗಿರಿಗೆ ಹೋರಾಟದ ಮೂಲಕವೇ ತಕ್ಕ ಉತ್ತರ ಕೊಡುತ್ತೇವೆ.
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Disqualification row: SC unhappy over Telangana CM's statement on bye-elections
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its displeasure over Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's statement in the assembly that there would be no bye-elections, and said he was expected to exercise "some degree of restraint".
"Did we commit a mistake by letting him go at that time and not taking an action for contempt?" a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih asked.
The top court was perhaps referring to a separate matter in which it had last year disapproved of Reddy's comments on the top court granting bail to rival BRS leader K Kavitha in cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
The apex court's observations came during the arguments on the pleas raising the issue of alleged delay by the Telangana Assembly speaker in deciding on petitions seeking disqualification of 10 BRS MLAs who had defected to the Congress.
The bench reserved its verdict in the matter.
During the arguments, the issue over Reddy's recent statement in the assembly cropped up before the bench.
"Mr Singhvi, having experience of earlier occasion, was the chief minister not expected to at least exercise some degree of restraint?" Justice Gavai asked senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who was appearing for the assembly speaker.
Justice Gavai said the court was not bothered about statements of politicians.
"We exercise self-restraint. We respect the other two wings of the democracy. Same is expected of the other two wings also," he said.
Senior advocate C A Sundaram, representing the petitioner and BRS leader Padi Kaushik Reddy, referred to the transcripts of the chief minister's statement, calling it shocking.
A BRS MLA, the counsel said, had said in the assembly that this should not be raked up as the matter was pending before the apex court but the chief minister still made the statement.
Sundaram quoted the chief minister's statement as saying, "Mr speaker, I am telling on your behalf to everyone present in the assembly that they need not worry about any bye-elections in future. No Bye-elections will come".
Sundaram said when the chief minister made the statement, the speaker did not say anything.
During the hearing, the bench asked what would be the "reasonable period" for a speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions.
It asked whether such applications for disqualification "should be permitted to die its natural death and the Tenth Schedule be thrown in the dustbin?".
The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution deals with provisions on disqualification on the ground of defection.
Sundaram requested the bench to put a time limit for deciding the disqualification petitions, referring to it as an "extraordinary situation".
Reddy had allegedly said in the assembly on March 26 that there would be no bye-elections even if BRS members switched sides.
"If this is said on the floor of the house, your chief minister is making a mockery of the Tenth Schedule," the bench said on April 2.
The apex court had also asked the speaker why he took about 10 months to issue notices on the petitions for the disqualification of BRS MLAs who defected to the Congress.
While one of the pleas in the apex court has challenged the November 2024 order of the Telangana High Court in a matter concerning petitions seeking the disqualification of three BRS MLAs, another petition relates to the remaining seven legislators who defected.
A division bench of the high court in November last year said the Assembly speaker must decide the disqualification petitions against the three MLAs within a "reasonable time".
The division bench's verdict came on the appeals against the September 9, 2024, order of a single judge.
The single judge had directed the secretary of the Telangana Assembly to place the petition seeking the disqualifications before the speaker for fixing a schedule of hearing within four weeks.
On March 4, the apex court sought responses from the Telangana government and others on the pleas, saying a timely decision was the key and there could not be a case of "operation successful but patient is dead".
It had also sought the responses of MLAs Danam Nagender, Venkata Rao Tellam and Kadiyam Srihari in the matter.
