Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah on Friday demanded that Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar submit his resignation and recommend the dissolution of the Assembly, stating that the government had been reduced to a minority.
Addressing presspersons here, he said Mr. Shettar had lost moral authority to continue in office and should desist from presenting the budget. The BJP had made a “mockery of democracy” in the State and the “disappearance” of Speaker K.G. Bopaiah was a case in point, Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged. However, the Congress would not topple the Shettar government at this juncture, he clarified.
Taking a dig at the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s stance on the Shettar government, he said if the former was really interested in bringing down the BJP government, he should inform the Governor about it. In that case, the Governor could intervene to settle the issue.
Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged that democracy had been in peril since the BJP came to power in the State, and said at no point of time in the past the office of the Speaker was misused to the extent that it was being witnessed. Mr. Bopaiah had acted as the “stooge” of the ruling party several times before, including the present scenario in which the Speaker had become untraceable when the supporters of Mr. Yeddyurappa had gone to his office to submit resignations.
Tipu varsity
Mr. Siddaramaiah said that Tipu University should be established in Srirangapatna and the State Government must provide land for it.
“Tipu cannot be dubbed a villain,” he said and termed the opposition to the proposed university as politically motivated.
The BJP MLC, G. Madhusudan’s recent remarks over Tipu were unfounded and factually wrong.
Mr. Siddaramaiah criticised writers S.L. Bhyrappa, Chidananda Murthy and others who had taken exception to the setting up of the university.
