BENGALURU: Opposition parties BJP and JD(S) on Thursday boycotted the Assembly session expressing their solidarity with the 10 BJP MLAs suspended from the House over the ruckus in the Assembly on Wednesday evening.
Besides this, BJP MLAs of both houses held a symbolic protest in front of the Gandhi statue in the morning and raised slogans against the Congress government.
Later, the MLAs marched to the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, calling on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and seeking an explanation on the situation. JD(S) leaders join BJP at Raj Bhavan.
The memorandum states that the Congress government is misusing its powers by using the IAS cadre and police as its “servants” and state government functionaries as political functionaries.
The memorandum was signed by both BJP and JD(S) leaders including Bommai and former CM HD Kumaraswamy.
Interestingly, the memorandum was on BJP’s letterhead and was signed by both the saffron party’s MLAs and the JD(S) MLAs.
Speaking to the media after submitting the memorandum, Bommai said: “The Speaker is using his chair for political gains. The chair is being misused. Such incidents (paper being torn inside the well) have happened in the past as well. He could have called us to his room to settle the dispute. But such a decision to suspend MLAs has never been taken before.
Bommai said that when someone becomes a speaker, he rises above party lines and does not participate in political programs of his party. ,
But the current speaker went to the luncheon organized by the Congress. We have no faith in the speaker,” he said.
Bommai said the BJP wanted to bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker as he was showing a partisan colour.
Repeating the same allegations, Kumaraswamy said during the day that the Speaker was misusing his position.
“The issue could have been resolved in two minutes but now it has been dragged to this level,” he claimed.
Responding to allegations of misusing officers for his swearing-in ceremony in 2018, the former JD(S) CM said, it was the chief secretary at that time who had given instructions to depute officers for reasons of protocol.
He alleged, “This time it is the DPAR department which is under the CM, which was directed to introduce protocol duties of IAS officers.”
Earlier, Speaker UT Khadar and Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani met the Governor and apprised him about the reasons for the suspension of the BJP MLAs.
The meeting lasted for half an hour before the assembly meeting on Thursday morning.
The Congress MLAs kept debating on the budget inside the House and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah gave his reply when the seats of the opposition remained vacant.
The only “non-Congress” MLA in the house was Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha (KRPP) MLA G Janardhana Reddy who appreciated the Congress initiative and demanded more allocations for the Kalyana Karnataka region.
The 10 MLAs were suspended on Wednesday evening for the rest of the monsoon session that ends on July 21.
Besides this, BJP MLAs of both houses held a symbolic protest in front of the Gandhi statue in the morning and raised slogans against the Congress government.
Later, the MLAs marched to the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, calling on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and seeking an explanation on the situation. JD(S) leaders join BJP at Raj Bhavan.
The memorandum states that the Congress government is misusing its powers by using the IAS cadre and police as its “servants” and state government functionaries as political functionaries.
The memorandum was signed by both BJP and JD(S) leaders including Bommai and former CM HD Kumaraswamy.
Interestingly, the memorandum was on BJP’s letterhead and was signed by both the saffron party’s MLAs and the JD(S) MLAs.
Speaking to the media after submitting the memorandum, Bommai said: “The Speaker is using his chair for political gains. The chair is being misused. Such incidents (paper being torn inside the well) have happened in the past as well. He could have called us to his room to settle the dispute. But such a decision to suspend MLAs has never been taken before.
Bommai said that when someone becomes a speaker, he rises above party lines and does not participate in political programs of his party. ,
But the current speaker went to the luncheon organized by the Congress. We have no faith in the speaker,” he said.
Bommai said the BJP wanted to bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker as he was showing a partisan colour.
Repeating the same allegations, Kumaraswamy said during the day that the Speaker was misusing his position.
“The issue could have been resolved in two minutes but now it has been dragged to this level,” he claimed.
Responding to allegations of misusing officers for his swearing-in ceremony in 2018, the former JD(S) CM said, it was the chief secretary at that time who had given instructions to depute officers for reasons of protocol.
He alleged, “This time it is the DPAR department which is under the CM, which was directed to introduce protocol duties of IAS officers.”
Earlier, Speaker UT Khadar and Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani met the Governor and apprised him about the reasons for the suspension of the BJP MLAs.
The meeting lasted for half an hour before the assembly meeting on Thursday morning.
The Congress MLAs kept debating on the budget inside the House and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah gave his reply when the seats of the opposition remained vacant.
The only “non-Congress” MLA in the house was Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha (KRPP) MLA G Janardhana Reddy who appreciated the Congress initiative and demanded more allocations for the Kalyana Karnataka region.
The 10 MLAs were suspended on Wednesday evening for the rest of the monsoon session that ends on July 21.