Dharna over BMIC issue in Karnataka Assembly

Bangalore, Jun 19: A determined Congress stalled proceedings in both the Houses of the Karnataka Legislature over a recent statement made by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on the controversial Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project, forcing the adjournment of the Houses without transacting any business, today.

Speaker Krishna adjourned the Assembly for the day as the Congress insisted that the issue be taken up in the form of an adjournement motion given notice of by them. Earlier, the Speaker had converted the adjournment motion notice into a matter for discussion under a different rule.

Leader of the Opposition N Dharam Singh and others sought to move an adjournment motion notice when the House began its extended budget session. The Speaker, after hearing preliminary submissions, withheld consent to the notice and allowed for a discussion under a different rule. But the Congress members insisted that the discussions should be held through an adjournment motion and trooped to the well of the House shouting slogans, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for half an hour.

Mr Krishna said the members could not give directions to the Chair and urged them to take up the issue as per the ruling.

Before the House was adjourned, Mr Kumaraswamy, intervening, said the Government was ready to reply to the Opposition charges made against him on the issue. ''If I have committed any mistake, I will not mind resigning. But you (the Congress) need not tell me what I should do,'' he told the Congress members.

Other party leaders, including Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha leader Vatal Nagaraj and Communist Party of India (Marxist) G V Srirama Reddy, urged the Speaker to invite all party leaders to his chambers and find a solution. The Speaker then adjourned the House for the day.

Earlier, Mr Singh and others referred to the Chief Minister's statement on June 13 that a former Minister and a journalist had tried to woo him in connection with the BMIC project. They alleged that the duo's action attracted the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act. Mr Kumaraswamy should have immediately lodged a complaint with the police. If he had intentionally kept quiet, it amounted to an unpardonable crime and he had no moral right to continue in power, they contended.

In the Council too, Leader of the Opposition H K Patil tried to move a similar motion. Deputy Chairman Sachidananda Khot disallowed the discussion, stating that it could not be allowed based on media reports. Congress members staged a dharna in the well of the House, pressing for the admission of the notice.

UNI

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