Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and other BJP leaders were held by Karnataka Police on Wednesday when they were protesting outside the Assembly against the suspension of 10 BJP MLAs for their ‘indecent and disrespectful conduct’ in the House.
Bommai was detained by Karnataka Police after they arrived at Vidhanasouda in Bengaluru and saw him demonstrating outside the Assembly. He was removed by police officers.
The suspension of 10 of its MLAs for the balance of the Assembly term was fiercely condemned by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chapter in Karnataka, which referred to the action as a grave ‘murder of democracy.’ Basavaraj Bommai strongly objected to his arrest and called it a ‘black day for democracy’ before it happened.
Following wild scenes in which some BJP members tore bills and agenda papers and flung them at the Chair, the Speaker took action. The Speaker’s decision to continue the House’s business without a lunch break infuriated the BJP MLAs.
Reacting to the same, Basavaraj Bommai said, ‘This is the black day for Democracy. There was a murder of democracy today. They (10 BJP MLAs) have been suspended for their small agitation. We will fight for the right of the suspended MLAs.’
The BJP MLAs are free to protest, according to the ruling Congress, but insulting the Chair was inappropriate.
‘It is unfortunate. We have laid out some guidelines, some rules in the house. House rules are there. Nobody prevents them from protesting, but there is some basic discipline that they have to follow. Attacking the Chair is something we don’t see in the Karnataka Assembly. It is unfortunate and we appeal to the Speaker to take some action. Otherwise, I don’t think our houses will run properly,’ Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara said.
There was a commotion in the Karnataka Assembly after a number of BJP MLAs began to criticise the Congress administration for allegedly ‘misusing’ IAS officers for opposition leader meetings during the previous two days.
Dr. C N Ashwath Narayan, V Sunil Kumar, R Ashoka, Araga Jnanendra (all former ministers), Yashpal Suvarna, Dheeraj Muniraj, A Umanath Kotian, Arvind Bellad, and Y Bharath Shetty are the 10 MLAs that were suspended.
Yashpal Suvarna, a suspended BJP lawmaker, claimed that the Speaker is abusing his authority. Our speaker today is abusing his position. He is just supporting one side. IAS and IPS officers in the state are being misused by the Siddaramaiah administration, he claimed.
The session of the Karnataka Assembly got underway on July 3 and is scheduled to end on July 21.
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