Barely a day after the discussion over bureaucrats being absent from the official gallery of the Legislative Council, several Ministers were found absent in the House on Wednesday.
This angered the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party members, who staged a walkout to protest the alleged “callous” attitude of Ministers towards the Upper House.
The issue was raised by Leader of the Opposition D.V. Sadananda Gowda when the House was discussing the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address.
He said none of the six Ministers who had been deputed to be present for the day, were there. Though two Ministers — B. Ramanath Rai and Baburao Chinchansur – were present, they had come voluntarily, he said.
Pointing out that the Upper House had been created for providing a forum for eminent persons from diverse fields to take part in the process of policy formulation, he said the absence of Ministers was an “insult to the concept of the Upper House”. Senior Congress member Veeranna Mathikatti said some of the senior legislators had raised the issue of absence of Ministers at the session with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. “The Chief Minister has directed all Ministers and Congress legislators to be present at the session,” he said.
