Bengaluru City Development Minister K.J. George on Wednesday sought to move a motion on breach of privilege against Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar and a private Kannada television news channel, in the Legislative Assembly.
He contended that Mr. Shettar and the TV channel had levelled baseless allegations against him, claiming that Shailaja, the doctor who conducted the autopsy of Dy.SP M.K. Ganapathy’s body, had stated before the CBI that she was made to conduct the autopsy under pressure from the government.
In his preliminary submission on the motion, Mr. George said the TV channel conducted a debate on Dr. Shailaja’s statement even though the CBI investigation is still on into the issue of alleged suicide of Ganapathy. The Minister said earlier too the channel had telecast baseless news against him, Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Health and Family Welfare Minister K.R. Ramesh Kumar. It projected legislators as “anti-social elements” without any evidence, he alleged.
Based on the media reports, Mr. Shettar levelled charges against him and demanded his resignation.
Mr. Shettar maintained that his allegations against Mr. George would not come under the motion on breach of privileges, and urged Speaker K.B. Koliwad to fix time on Friday for a detailed discussion.
There was pandemonium following allegations and counter-allegations between the BJP and the Congress, and this forced BJP members to stage a dharna in the House, and then the Speaker adjourned the House. When the House re-assembled, the Speaker announced he had reserved the ruling on the motion. Later, BJP members withdrew their protest.
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More houses for exploited women, film workers
Housing Minister M. Krishnappa assured the Legislative Council on Wednesday that more houses based on demand would be allotted to sexually exploited women, transgender persons, and film industry workers belonging to low income groups, in the government housing schemes. Replying to Congress member Jaimala during the Question Hour, he said 69,000 houses were being built in 2017–18 and applicants belonging to 14 categories would be allotted houses.
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Industries to be closed
Minister for Forest, Environment and Ecology B. Ramanath Rai told the Legislative Council on Wednesday that steps were being taken to seal industries and buildings that had failed to take requisite permission from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. The decision had been taken after the High Court of Karnataka ruled that there was no provision for regularisation of such structures by collecting administrative fees.
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JD(S) MLA accuses Ramanath Rai of breach of privilege
The Janata Dal (S) MLA for Malur, Manjunath Gowda, on Wednesday, filed a complaint of breach of privilege against Minster for Forests B. Ramanath Rai. Raising the issue in the Assembly, Mr. Gowda accused the Minister of providing false information about a forest area. While replying to a query by him, the Minister had described a portion of land encroached upon in his constituency as “non-forest land”. However, the government had earlier made it clear that the encroached land was actually “forest land”, Mr. Gowda said. Deputy Speaker Shivashankar Reddy, who was in the chair, said he would refer the issue to the privileges committee to take a call on whether or not to accept it.
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Thin attendance of Ministers continues
Yet again, the Legislative Assembly witnessed thin attendance of Ministers on Wednesday. As soon as the House met in the morning, Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar took exception to the absence of a large number of Ministers. When Speaker K.B. Koliwad read out the list of Ministers who were scheduled to attend the Assembly on Wednesday, it turned out that eight to 10 of them were absent. The attendance of members too continued to be thin.
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KHB allotments: Early probe report to be sought
Housing Minister M. Krishnappa told the Legislative Council on Wednesday that the judge conducting inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the allotment of houses by Karnataka Housing Board in Vijayapura would be requested to complete and submit the inquiry report at the earliest. Responding to Independent member Basanagouda Yatnal’s question during the Question Hour, Mr. Krishnappa admitted that there were complaints of irregularities because of which an inquiry was being conducted. Steps would be taken give justice to genuine applicants once the inquiry report is submitted, he said.
