Elephants, rats ‘enter’ the House
Elephants and rodents dominated a discussion in the ongoing session of Karnataka Legislative Council recently. Even as a serious discussion was on over elephants increasingly destroying crops in Hassan district, a few members complained to Chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy about a rodent menace in the Council hall. BJP member Tara expressed concern that rats were moving around and nibbling at the carpet in the hall. She said she was scared even to rest her feet on the floor. “Please protect us from the rodents,” she appealed to the Chairman. Only a day earlier, the members had to put up with an unbearable stench of a dead rat in the lounge. The malodour had turned many members away from the lounge. Marshals were forced to use masks as they used air fresheners and incense sticks to quell the stench. While the Chairman did not allow a discussion on the subject, he assured Ms. Tara that the problem would be addressed.
No more ‘Madrasi’
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was in his best mood on Saturday when he came to inaugurate the relaunched Namma 100 control room. Not only did he engage the public, but also keept them awake with his humour. One such instance was when he pulled the leg of senior police officers in the front of the audience. He started saying ‘nimma dooru, namma 100’ (your complaint, our 100) when a senior police officer tried to correct him. Repeating the slogan, he said the officer tried to confuse him. A few minutes later, he said that earlier people in the north addressed people from Karnataka as ‘Madrasi’. “Now, Bengaluru has made its mark in the world by its dynamic approach. We are now identified as ‘Bengalurean’ and not ‘Madrasi,” he said.
Money for votes
With less than a year to go for the State Legislative Assembly elections, the issue of money power in polls has started raging in the Kolar Assembly segment. Varthur Prakash, Kolar MLA, (in picture) and a few supporters of C.R. Manohar, MLC, representing the rural local bodies constituency, are engaged in mudslinging over this issue.
Amidst rumours that Mr. Manohar could be the JD(S) candidate from Kolar, incumbent Mr. Prakash went full steam against the former. “I have more money than Mr. Manohar,” Mr. Prakash openly said, taunting the other. The remark raised hackles in the JD(S) quarters and evoked strong condemnation from the rival camp.
Former president of Kolar City Municipal Council B.M. Mubarak asked Mr. Prakash whether he won the elections twice on the basis of money power. He issued a statement saying, “This has brought out the true colours of Mr. Prakash” and also mentioned public concerns about how he got votes. “Is money power the criterion in elections?” Mr. Mubarak asked. Meanwhile, former Agriculture Minister K. Srinivasa Gowda of the JD(S) joined the detractors of Mr. Prakash, but for a different reason. He decried his recent moves of raking up caste in the constituency. Mr. Prakash, he said, did nothing for people hit by drought but he has suddenly surfaced to organise caste-based conventions, Mr. Gowda said.
Better know your ‘sandhis’
Bengaluru BJP MLA Y.A. Narayanaswamy (in picture) , who spoke with a bleeding heart on the sad state of government-run Kannada medium schools at the legislature session, had not quite bargained for what he got in response — a lesson in Kannada grammar by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and an uncomfortable poser on whether his own children went to Kannada medium schools. It all began when Mr. Narayanaswamy flashed a newspaper article that said thousands of Kannada schools were closing down with none caring for them. Mr. Siddaramaiah, in response, took off on a lesson. He demanded to know from the hapless MLA if he knew anything about “sandhis” (fusion of sounds) and the legislator put his foot in his mouth saying that there were two – Savarna Deergha Sandhi and Guna Sandhi.
The Chief Minister then gave the Assembly a long lecture on both Kannada and Sanskrit “sandhis”, with anecdotes thrown in about his tough teacher back in the fifties who had taught him some unforgettable lessons in grammar. He concluded the presentation chastising the MLA, “You are lecturing about education and you don’t know a thing about Kannada grammar!” He even extracted a confession from Mr. Narayanaswamy that his children did not study in government schools.
While Mr. Siddaramaiah had the Assembly in splits and left them speechless, he also cleverly managed to get away from answering the important question on the status of government schools.
Afshan Yasmeen
Vivek Narayanan
Vishwa Kundapura
Bageshree S.
