There was a ruckus in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday between members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and other members over the allegation made by N. Chaluvaraya Swamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) that IAS and IPS officers were given postings for financial considerations, but he withdrew it following a direction by Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa.
Mr. Swamy made a sweeping remark that corruption, which was not rampant when the Congress and JD(S) were in power, had grown during the BJP governance in the State.
This triggered protests by Govind M. Karjol, K.G. Bopaiah, C.T. Ravi, Sunil Kumar and Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri of the BJP. Two Congress members — K. Shivamurthy and Rudresh Gowda — reminded the principal Opposition party that the Lokayukta report had also stated this fact.
Mr. Karjol stuck to his stand that Mr. Swamy should withdraw his remark. Mr. Thimmappa then ordered the words to be erased. However, the BJP was not happy with that and demanded that Mr. Swamy disclose which IAS officer paid money and to whom.
The Speaker, who was keen to see that the debate on the Governor’s address was completed, asked Mr. Swamy to apologise or withdraw his remarks.
Instead, Mr. Swamy wanted the government to order an inquiry into the issue. Later, he withdrew it saying that whatever he said was what the people were saying in public. He asked the BJP to introspect on the issue.
