The Opposition Congress in the Mangaluru City Corporation council stooped to the Well of the House and sat on a dharna opposing the ruling BJP tabling some matters for discussion and decision at the eleventh hour without sending them in advance to the councilors.
Opposing the same, Leader of the Opposition Naveen R. D’Souza said that the councilors should be given enough time to study the matters listed for discussion and decision, especially the ones related to taking policy decisions. It is not fair to table some agenda at the last minute.
Simultaneously, the Congress also opposed the council giving its approval in the last month’s meeting of the council to name Surathkal Junction Circle after Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Citing it as an example, Mr. D’Souza said that an agenda on the same matter had been tabled at the last minute without sending it in advance. Hence the Congress did not have time to study it and express its stand. The Leader of the Opposition insisted that the opposition of the Congress should be recorded before ratifying the decision taken in the last meeting.
It may be mentioned here that when the agenda was tabled in the council in the last meeting both the Congress and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) did not oppose it. Hence the council had agreed to name the circle after Savarkar unanimously.
Responding to the opposition, Mayor Jayanand Anchan and the Whip in the council Premananda Shetty, also the immediate former Mayor, questioned the Congress members why they did not oppose it in the last meeting and demanded for registering their opposition. They said that the Congress members should have spoken on the matter in the last meeting but they kept silent indicating that the proposal had their approval.
BJP member Sudhir Shetty Kannur said that when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister the then Union government had brought out a postal stamp on Savarkar. It revealed that the Congress and the then government had agreed that Savarkar was a freedom fighter. Then why the opposition now, he asked.
When the ruling and the Opposition members traded charges shouting slogans against each other pandemonium, prevailed in the House forcing the Mayor to adjourn the meeting for some time.
When the meeting resumed, the Congress members continued their dharna. Meantime the Mayor asked the Whip to take up the matters listed for discussion and decision.
The ruling BJP took the decisions on matters without any discussion over them. There was no Question Hour too.
